Naruto: The Uchiha Prodigy
by Rifat
Summary: Naruto (OC) was born in the Uchiha Clan and is the younger brother of Obito and Shisui. Witnessing and later finding out about the truth of the Clan Massacre, he instead chooses to protect the Leaf. Meanwhile he tries to resist the Curse of Hatred just like his family had done. Discontinued; will be rewritten later after the planning for the story is finished. Sorry everyone. :'(
1. Prologue - Night of the Massacre

**Author's Notes I:** Hey there everyone Rifat here. This is going to be a story where Naruto is born an Uchiha. He is not the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He is not related to Minato and Kushina. He is an Uchiha. For those already ranting about how he's an OC named Naruto, yes he is and as you saw I wrote it in the summary description. As for why you still ask why showed "Naruto U." in the characters list, well it's because I am making the U stand for Uchiha.

UNLEASHING MY IMAGINATION!

Kyoka Suigetsu Totsuka, KitsuneDragon, Oturan Namikaze, LonelyDreamer00, Drake Wilson, jCOOLn, Aragon Potter (Hope of the Senju Clan), PlaguedAmbition, Houkaru Kisaragi and NeonZangetsu have done what I did in the "Characters" section so please don't whine about it.

People still complaining about that are kindly requested to fuck off if the sentences above do not satisfy you.

I don't want to give too many spoilers so without further ado enjoy the new story. For those who are wondering if you've read this story before let me clarify. I have another account by the name of FallenDarko. This fic was originally published in that account to see if I get different reviews for a first time author. With that said enjoy the story. Or hate it.

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION.**

 **NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PIERROT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO.**

 **CONTENTS FROM OTHER KNOWN AND RECOGNIZED SERIES ALSO DON'T BELONG TO ME**

 **THIS STORY IS RATED M FOR A REASON AS IT CONTAINS VIOLENCE, COARSE LANGUAGE AND ADULT SITUATIONS NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THE OFFICIAL RELEASE**

* * *

Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni.

A boy, age of seven years, is running through the isolated area between the buildings. It is filled with traditional Shinto styled buildings.

The boy himself is 4'3 which is considerably tall for his age. He has jet black raven hair and azure, blue eyes just like his mother. His brothers apparently did not inherit the eye color that only he and his mother shared. He has slightly tanned skin and has a lean build for his age. Slight traces of baby fat can be found on his face as they accentuate his face pretty well. He is wearing a dark blue kimono and frantically crying because he previously heard writhing, nightmare inducing screams coming from the main side of the compound.

On the back of his kimono, is a crest. The crest is that of a fan divided in two sections. The top half is red and lower half is white.

However, now the color of his eyes have changed out of pure instinct.

Just a few days ago he had learned that his remaining living brother had gone missing and was considered dead, his eyes had evolved from the traumatic news he had heard. A small opaque black dot lies in the center of his red iris. Surrounding the dot are three tomoe, lazily spinning as if they are waiting for something to happen. This eye is a rare dojutsu and is considered one of the most rare Kekkei Genkai in the history of the shinobi world. The Sharingan.

These eyes are known only to manifest in the eyes of those who belong to the Uchiha Clan. Said boy is also an Uchiha. He had awakened his at age six and trained ever since an incident changed his life. He did however hide this fact at his brother's request. His name is Naruto Uchiha. This is his story.

* * *

 _Naruto Uchiha was born to the lesser branch of the Uchiha Clan but he is nonetheless an Uchiha._

 _Sometimes though he had been treated worse than dirt because of what his father Genjuro Uchiha did. He was considered somewhat of a 'traitor' in the eyes of his fellow clansmen._

 _Why you ask? Genjuro and his wife Satsuki Uchiha were once considered the greatest Uchiha to emerge from the branch side of the clan since Kagami Uchiha._

 _When Satsuki became pregnant with their first child, she immediately decided that she would quit the life of shinobi and raise a family. She had lost her brother in a battle that caused her to awaken the next stage of the Sharingan. The Mangekyou Sharingan. However she was wise like her husband Genjuro, who had also awakened the Mangekyou, and rarely used it fully aware of the consequence that followed from too much usage of the evolved dojutsu._

 _After their first son was born she was over the moon as was her husband._

 _Their first child was Obito Uchiha. He was a kind child who had inherited his parents' traits through and through. The main difference was that he was a slow learner when it came to being a shinobi. He would wear goggles and proclaimed that he was going to be the first Uchiha who became Hokage._

 _He would later go on to study under Minato Namikaze one of the most up and coming elite jounins of Konoha._

 _Five years after that, their second son Shisui Uchiha was born._

 _Even from a young age he showed signs of being a prodigy. Yet unlike the normal Uchiha who would immediately gloat about this and inflate his pride so as to it could touch the sky, Shisui was rather kind in his behavior and very humble about his skills. He especially looked up to his brother Obito, who may have been weak in the eyes of the elite but to Shisui he was what a shinobi should be._

 _A person who never gives up and overcomes the odds._

 _Eight years later. The family of four received news that make them happier than ever._

 _Satsuki Uchiha is pregnant. Genjuro is happy that he would become a father once more, while both his sons are ecstatic to say the least. Obito was jumping in joy that he would once again be an aniki to another little guy, while Shisui was happy at the fact that he would be an older brother. Their happiness was short lived however._

 _An event changes the world. The Third Great Ninja War begins. As usual, Iwagakure is the cause of this once more._

 _Genjuro Uchiha one of the brightest Leaf shinobi to emerge was sent to the front lines and was part of one of the most important battles during the early stages of the War. During a raid in the Land of Waves, he had seen battalions of Iwa shinobi who had taken over the place and seemed to be oppressing the people. A portion of his team that he was leading had been captured by Iwa forces. Seeing that he would have to sacrifice his team, he disregarded all the rules and kicked the mission to the curb. He save the lives of fifteen chunnin and ten gennin, he had also liberated the Land of Waves but the Iwa forces understood the strategy the Hidden Leaf had played and they changed their entire tactical plan towards the Kannabi Bridge._

 _In other words, Konoha had blown their chance to plan a surprise attack on Iwa because Genjuro had valued the lives of his teammates and the people of Nami no Kuni more than the mission._

 _He was however killed in action while saving the people. His greatest regret being that he could not see his newborn son being born into the world. He was not even given a proper burial as ROOT had decided to burn his body on spot so that no secrets could be spilled, witnesses watched this and nobody protested against the fact that he would not be buried at his village._

 _All the honor he got was a name on the Memorial Stone in Konohagakure no Sato._

 _The Uchiha were outraged at the humiliation that Genjuro had brought them and had driven the family of three, soon to be four to the edge of the Uchiha Compound. Often times the fellow clan members would berate and verbally abuse the family for bringing great dishonor to the clan._

 _To his family however, they understood why he did it. He valued the lives of others over himself, to them he was a hero. That was just who Genjuro Uchiha was. A selfless shinobi._

 _Even the general citizens of Konoha looked at them with disgust because ,to their lesser knowledge, he had cost them an important victory in the early stages of the War._

 _Obito had often spoken up against this but the Clan Elders paid no heed as he was from the lesser branch of the family. Obito had sworn that once he became Hokage he would make sure the Elders would apologize to him and get rid of the stupid system that divides the Clan._

 _Sadly for the young Uchiha he never got that wish to come true. He had sacrificed himself in the battle of the Kannabi Bridge which resulted in Konoha winning the the Third Great Ninja War. Obito Uchiha was remembered as the shinobi who stayed behind and activated the explosion seals that destroyed the bridge, the right side of his body was crushed beneath a boulder but he still pulled through with the mission after his team safely got away._

 _Even after that the family was looked down upon, they were known as the Uchiha Lambs. Only useful as sacrificial lambs as some of the main members of the Uchiha household had put it._

 _Obito's legacy however had lived on through his teammate Kakashi who had Obito's Sharingan in his left eye. It was a gift from Obito to him and his family appreciated the fact that their son and brother had a true friend, who would not waste the gift and Kakashi himself had adopted Obito's way of living as a shinobi. A girl named Rin Nohara was also his friend but had died a few months after the war._

 _Shisui would later go on to continue his brother's wish to protect his family and the village. He was quickly recognized as a prodigy and also awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan at the age of eight after he heard his brother had died, he had previously awakened the Sharingan at age five after nearly dying because of an attack by unknown ANBU who committed suicide before they could be interrogated._

 _However as the darkness came to consume the family a new light was born. Three months after the war ended. Satsuki's third child was born._

 _Naruto Uchiha._

 _When Naruto was around two months old, the Nine Tailed Fox attacked and killed a lot of people in the Village. The Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze had sealed the beast into an unknown newborn girl. He saved the village at the cost of his own life._

 _The village had started to suspect the Uchiha Clan, as they knew that the Kyuubi could be controlled by the Sharingan. Some of the people even called the youngest child of Genjuro a sign of calamity as his birth had resulted in an attack two months after he was born._

* * *

 _Naruto Uchiha was a mix between his mother and father if his looks said anything. In terms of personality he was like both Shisui and Obito. He had Obito's somewhat goofy approach to life and was always calm like Shisui. Even the verbal beratings did not matter to Naruto Uchiha. He knew that he had his mother and brother who would always be there for him. He had also somewhat of an older brother figure in Itachi Uchiha._

 _Itachi was a few years younger than Shisui but was his best friend. As Naruto had once eloquently put it, Itachi was not 'one of the Uchiha who had a stick up in his ass'._

 _Where a child had learned a term like that was beyond everyone present during the event. This had resulted in his mother chasing him comically but he was able to avoid it every time. Normally he would run too fast or use the most powerful jutsu known to children, Puppy Eyes no Jutsu._

 _Naruto's personality drastically changed when his mother died from a disease when he was six. This incident resulted in him awakening his Sharingan, with two tomoe no less. Shisui decided that he would train his outoto. He secretly began training him and much to his surprise he was also a prodigy, albeit one that progressed at an abnormal rate. Naruto had rarely ever used the Sharingan and could do the traditional Uchiha fire style jutsu after one go._

 _Only Shisui and Itachi had known about his unnatural progress. He was even considered by both those prodigies to be someone who would give them a hard time once he grew up. He was however told to hide his skills at all times by them. He agreed with them without a second question._

 _He had also inherited his oldest deceased brother, Obito's dream to become Hokage. He would do it for his brother and get rid of the boundaries that separated the two Uchiha family branches._

 _Other than Itachi, he was close to Mikoto Uchiha. She was the wife of the clan head, Fugaku. She was a very nice and kind person. She often used to tease him about how he would grow up to be a real ladies man. This came on when he accidentally blurted that if he ever got married it would be to someone beautiful like Mikoto. Realizing what he said he had gained an embarrassing blush on his face and she would often tease him to grow up so she could marry him._

 _Her younger son Sasuke, who was the same age as around him, was quite weird at least in his opinion. He always looked to be getting his father's attention and constantly trying to do things Itachi had performed at his age. He would also ignore Naruto for some reason._

 _Naruto however in general was happy despite all the shit the universe decided to throw at him. His Sharingan training went well and he had successfully mastered his two tomoe, but only Shisui knew about that part._

 _A few days ago he received news that Shisui disappeared and was presumed dead. His eyes changed into the three tomoe Sharingan. His entire world had been broken apart. His only family was dead. Not even Itachi was around after that._

* * *

Now, in the Uchiha Clan Compound

'Where is everyone?!' Unfortunately for the boy his questions are answered just not the way he wants.

The sight before him is what shocked him to his core. Several dead bodies. Everywhere. All the people in the Uchiha Compound were lying in pieces, or stabbed horribly as blood gushed out every now and then. He was shaking visibly and scared. He went near the body of a random person and was shaking it.

"Hey! Please wake up!'' He started crying. "What happened? Who did this?!" Naruto was wailing now. Such a gruesome sight was never meant for young ones like him.

"I did it."

A single cold voice cut through the air in the middle of the night. Naruto knew that voice all to well.

There standing in front of him with his Sharingan spinning wildly before taking on the shape of a fuma shuriken, stood Itachi Uchiha in an ANBU Uniform. His body was covered with blood that was dripping from his body. His eyes looked like they were aiming to kill him.

"Hello Naruto" Itachi said and let out a massive killing intent which resulted in Naruto's Sharingan deactivating. Naruto was shaking with fear as he fell on to his knees. His mind only raced to one conclusion. _Did Itachi-nii do all this?_

"I-I-Ita-achi-nn-ii... Did you do all this?" Naruto asked while whimpering.

"Yes. You've gotten a lot smarter than before haven't you Naruto?" Itachi then looked at him more carefully. "Perhaps I should kill you next considering how you're progressing."

Then Naruto's world turned black, red and white.

* * *

The Tsukyomi World

"Welcome to my world Naruto." Itachi spoke with a soft threatening voice.

Naruto saw that he was hung upside down on a cross and he saw the scene around him.

Itachi was killing the entire clan as blood spilled everywhere. It was too much for Naruto.

He then saw Itachi kill Fugaku.

But what really tore his heart apart was when he drove his tanto through Mikoto's chest. She was his guardian after his mother died and seeing that was his breaking point.

"Please stop it Itachi-nii!... Nii san.. Please help me!" Naruto cried out for his brother Shisui.

"I'm afraid Shisui can't help you Naruto." Itachi paused as the scene changed to a waterfall.

Naruto saw Itachi and Shisui standing there. Shisui's back was turned to Itachi, when Itachi stabbed him with a tanto and ripped out his both of his eyes. Shisui's body was falling into the large chasm where the waterfall was from the injuries he suffered.

As Shisui fell he looked towards Naruto and spoke.

"Why didn't you help me outoto?"

Naruto let out a scream hearing this from his only brother

Then something strange happened. The red sky of the Tsukuyomi world was starting to shatter. Itachi saw the reason as his genjutsu broke.

* * *

Uchiha Clan Compound

"Mangekyou Sharingan" Itachi muttered as Naruto's eyes changed to the shape of a four bladed scythe joined in a circle (Imagine Obito's Mangekyou with four blades instead of three) as his eyes began to slightly bleed from the usage.

"It seems that you have the same eyes as me Naruto. Yet you cannot use it yet properly." Itachi then turned around to leave. "When you are strong come find me. Then we shall see who is the strongest of the Uchiha Clan. These weak, pathetic clan members did not prove to be the challenge. Embrace your hatred only then you will be able to defeat me and avenge Shisui."

"There is no way you could kill nii-san, Itachi-nii" Naruto said in a soft voice as the bleeding had stopped and his Sharingan had deactivated altogether.

"You're too kind to do this Itachi-nii. One day you will answer everything to me. I know it." Naruto said with a sad smile and grew even more sad when Itachi turned towards Naruto. Itachi was shedding silent tears of sadness and said a few words before leaving.

"..."

"Goodbye Outoto."

Itachi disappeared into a flock of crows.

The darkness began to take Naruto. But then something else happened. He could feel the presence of something nearby. It felt all to familiar, yet unknown at the same time. He then heard a swirling noise before he fell unconscious.

* * *

The next day the Village Hidden in the Leaves heard the tragic news. The Uchiha Clan, one of the founding clans of Konoha, had been wiped out by Itachi Uchiha, who wanted to prove his strength and presumably had cracked under the pressure of being an ANBU Captain at such a young age. He left behind two survivors.

His own younger brother Sasuke was now Clan Head and another member from the branch clan, whom everyone recognized as the son of Genjuro who had shamed both the clan and the village.

From then on the age at which the students would enter the Academy had changed. Now they would be admitted nine and would graduate at fourteen. The Academy standard had also considerably dropped to a more basic level to the point where even civilians could become genins without any problems. A foolish part on the Council's part, however the standards for the shinobi exam had been dropping for some time now. And not just in Konoha but the other major shinobi villages as well.

Peace was deteriorating the overall skill shinobi had.

* * *

Konoha Hospital

Naruto had woken up and was interrogated heavily by the shinobi as to what happened. He explained briefly that he had entered the compound after having ramen for the first time at Ichiraku's. He went inside his home and heard screaming coming from the main compound. He went in to find the dead bodies and Itachi had put him under a genjutsu.

When asked about the blood they found on his face, Naruto put on his best poker face that Shisui and Itachi had taught him and explained that he had accidentally stumbled onto a dead body without looking properly and fell face first onto the body.

They believed that the seven year old was not lying about such a traumatic event and left him to recover.

Sasuke on the other hand had gone on to bubbling out everything that had happened. He was later treated like a prince. 'The Last Uchiha' of noble birth. How the village would treat him like a glass doll if the Civilian Council had anything to do with it.

Naruto was a stain on the existence of the Uchiha. A branch member but now one of the last two loyal Uchiha left. Now they treated him a bit nicer as he had gone through a significant trauma.

Naruto still did not want to get out of the hospital. He wanted to fake his injuries to remove some suspicion from him. He needed to pretend he was a weakling. Shisui had drilled this into him a long time ago.

"A true shinobi always hides his true skills and his greatest weapon is deception" The wisest words Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage ever spoke.

He went to the bathroom and channeled chakra to his eyes as they changed into the Sharingan.

He channeled even more and they changed shape as it took the form of a four bladed pinwheel. It was mesmerizing to Naruto but he felt significantly tired and his eyes hurt just a little bit at a time.

He came out of the bathroom and lied down on the bed. He looked up at the white ceiling.

"Itachi-nii... I will find out why you did this." Naruto said, not knowing how his life had been set on a course from last night.

* * *

 **Author's Notes II:** So there you go folks the first chapter hope you liked it. Please review it and let me know what you think of the story. Ja ne :)


	2. A Promise to My Brother

**Author's Notes I:** Hey there everyone Rifat here and i am back with the new chapter. I want to make one thing very clear... Please do not be disappointed I am suffering from a terrible writer's block why you ask?

There are too many similar fanfics out there. We all have a common thought when it comes to certain aspects.

For e.g a Naruto neglect fic. 70% of those have nearly the same idea so expect some similarities between this fic and others.

Also, I want to clarify something expect an update between each chapter to be at least 7 to 10 days. I for one am not going to put out half assed material. So with that said enjoy the new chapter.

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION**

 **NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PIERROT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA, SHUIESHA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

 **CONTENTS FROM OTHER KNOWN AND RECOGNIZED SERIES ALSO DON'T BELONG TO ME**

 **THIS STORY IS RATED M FOR A REASON AS IT CONTAINS VIOLENCE, COARSE LANGUAGE AND ADULT SITUATIONS NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THE OFFICIAL RELEASE**

* * *

 _Dreamscape Flashback_

 _Naruto and his mother Satsuki were walking towards the Naka River. He could see the distasteful looks his own clansmen were throwing his way._

 _"Look it's the traitor family"_

 _"It's that Genjuro's spawn and his wife."_

 _"Sacrificial lambs... That's all that family is good for!"_

 _"Why are they still allowed to live in the compound after the shame they brought?"_

 _"Naru-chan?" Naruto was broken out of his thoughts and found two kind blue eyes looking into his own cerulian pools. "Is something wrong?"_

 _"Gomen kaa-chan." Naruto spoke with a sad look on his face. "I know you and Nii-san told me to ignore what everyone says about us but... Sometimes the things they say... It hurts so much." Naruto finished as a small sad look formed on his face. True his brother always said that shinobi restrain their emotions, but this was hard sometimes._

 _Words…hurt more than actions._

 _Satsuki came down to his level and pulled him into a soft hug. Even Naruto knew that his mother's health was not too well. She was not as strong as she used to be. Often times he had to go to the Hospital with her to get her a thorough checkup and come back home with bags of medicine that helped soothe her condition. Shisui worked overtime in the ANBU Black Ops to get more funds to find out if there was a cure to his mother's disease that was slowly eating away at her._

 _"Naru chan... Never pay attention to what the villagers or the clansmen ever talk about you." Satsuki said with a sad smile. "You're tou-san and Obito nii-san were heroes of the Leaf... Always remember that sochi."_

 _"H-Hai Kaa-chan." Naruto tightened the hug on his mother and clung to her like a lifeline. After Shisui, she was the only family that Naruto had._

 _"Sochi would you like to see your tou-san and nii-san again?" Satsuki smiled and activated her Sharingan. Naruto shook his head and blurted out a no immediately. He then hugged his mother even tighter._

 _"It's okay Kaa-chan." Naruto said as he suppressed a sob. Sometimes Satsuki would perform Tsukuyomi to show him illusions of his father and Obito, he would laugh at how both of them were goofballs at times. Satsuki's Tsukuyomi was very powerful and at times felt like a separate reality itself. However Naruto also knew that the strain it caused on her mother was too much and any further complications would make her even weaker. "I already know what they were like... Besides I have you and Nii-san... That's all I really need."_

 _He released the hug and looked at his mother with a kind smile on his face. She cupped his cheeks and gently kissed his forehead._

 _"My little Naru chan... You're going to be a fine man when you grow up." Satsuki then stood up as Naruto held her hand and walked towards their destination. Suddenly a soft tug was felt on Naruto's shoulder. He turned around to see Shisui standing there with a goofy grin on his face._

 _"Yo outoto." As soon as Shisui said this Naruto pouted cutely. He hated the fact that Shisui could easily sneak up on him._

 _Of course this was Shisui the Teleporter known for perfecting the Shunshin no Jutsu to a new level. Hell he left afterimages because of his proficiency._

 _"Aww is little Naru mad I sneaked up on him again?" Shisui asked with a cheeky smile. Naruto was now annoyed and Satsuki was giggling at the interaction between her sons._

 _"One of these days Nii-san. One of these days you'll see just how strong I become. Then you won't be able to sneak up on me anymore." Naruto said with his chest heaving with pride._

 _Shisui simply stared down at his brother and saw that his mother was looking at both of them with a sweet smile. A smile that was too sweet. All of her sons including her husband were afraid when she smiled like that. Shisui sweat dropped and knew that if he teased his outoto any further there'd be hell to pay. After all, Satsuki Uchiha had loved Naruto more than any of her children. Instead he just ruffled his younger brother's hair and smiled at his proclamation._

 _"You know what outoto?... I have no doubt you will." Shisui said this and hugged his little brother who simply gave into it. He picked up Naruto on his shoulders and asked where they were going. After hearing they were going to the Naka River, Shisui decided to accompany them. He just returned from a mission and wanted to spend his free time wit them and his friend Itachi as much as possible. He had yet to get girlfriend of course, even Itachi had one. This often caused dark clouds to gather over Shisui's head as he would sulk in the corner. Naruto especially found this habit of his hilarious._

 _Shisui of course did not miss the glares being pointed at them. He too was not bothered by what the people thought. His father had taught his sons a lesson. A lesson that Shisui later passed on to his friend Itachi and later to his younger brother Naruto._

 _A shinobi is a person who endures hardships and overcomes them. He is one who believes in self sacrifice. He does not seek glory. A shinobi always protects his comrades. He is the guardian the shadows. That is the mark of a true shinobi._

 _Naruto was on his brother's shoulder and was looking at his family. In that single moment, only he knew how much he had cherished moments like this._

 _'Just you wait Kaa-chan ... Nii-san... I'll be even stronger than Tou-san one day.'_

* * *

Konoha Hospital, Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni.

Naruto got up from his sleep and saw that his eyes were bloodshot as tears were still freely falling down his cheeks.

"Kaa-chan... Nii-san... Itachi-nii... Obaa-chan" Naruto tried to hold back the tears that were still leaking. He could not.

Every time he remembered his mother he would break down. His mother was his world when she was alive.

Before she died, it was a rare sight to not see them together. After she got sick, Naruto at times refused to leave her side and even fell asleep on the bedside.

At one point he even said he does not want to lose anymore family and would gladly give his own life if it meant she could be healthy again.

Funny how fate wanted to play with his already sad existence and added more chapters that sent him spiraling downwards.

There was knock on the door and Naruto gave permission to come in.

It was the Sandaime Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. The Professor. He was known to have mastered jutsu from all five elements and was the teacher of the Densetsu no Sannin, the Three Legendary Shinobi of the Leaf. He had survived all three Great Ninja Wars and was a living testament to what shinobi should be. In the back of the mind of the Third, guilt was being amassed in a large quantity as he knew, he was responsible for the boy ending up in the hospital.

Still more than forty five decades of being a shinobi had enabled him to mask his emotions perfectly and he was doing it right now as a small fake smile spread across his face.

"How are you feeling now Naruto kun?" Sarutobi asked as he eyed the boy curiously.

"I am doing fine right now Hokage sama." Naruto curtly replied and then looked down at his bed sheets. He remembered what Itachi did. All the bodies that were lying around in the main compound. He must have killed off the entire clan.

But still Naruto asked with a silver of a hope, "Were there any other survivors Hokage sama?"

Hiruzen let out a sigh and had a solemn look on his face.

"I'm afraid not Naruto kun. It seems that Itachi had killed off everyone in the Uchiha Clan except you and Sasuke. I am sorry." He added with a sad voice.

"Hokage sama," Naruto looked at him curiously "just before I lost consciousness I heard a swirling sound. Was there anyone else there?"

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at this development.

"No there wasn't anybody else there. Did you see anyone?"

"No" Naruto added with a tone of finality. "Has there been a funeral yet?"

"No it will happen in a few hours. Do you think you can make it there without any problems?" Hiruzen asked. The boy had been hit with a genjutsu by Itachi, by all rights and privileges he should be in a coma or dead. The resilience in this young man was astounding in Sarutobi's eyes.

"Hai Hokage sama. I will have to go back to the Uchiha Compound first. I need to go change my clothes and ..." Naruto added as a grim feeling took him over. He realized something shattering about the Compound.

'No one's there anymore.'

"Do you want me to come with you Naruto kun?" Hiruzen asked as he knew what sort of mental trauma the boy was going through.

"It's alright Hokage sama. If I need your help I will come ask for it." Naruto added with a tone of finality as he bowed his head.

Hiruzen nodded and left the room as Naruto was alone with his thoughts once more. He was still sitting on the bed and finally decided to get up and stretch a bit.

"I should get going." Naruto put on his regular clothes which had been washed and headed out of the hospital.

* * *

Konoha Streets

Naruto was along the road and was getting rather frustrated. The people were constantly giving him strange looks. Usually it would be light glares. They considered him to be a living testament to his father's failure in the war.

But now it was a different look.

One that made Naruto look at them with disgust as one word came to his mind about the general civilian populace of Konoha.

'Pathetic.'

Naruto was annoyed because the same people that gave him ominous glares were now looking at him with a different view. It was a look that Naruto knew very well.

Pity.

He did not want pity. After his mother died some people tried to show him pity and he would let his emotions get the better of him. It wasn't until Mikoto obaa chan came along and helped him with this situation that he was able to temper his emotions more.

As he remembered her he felt a pang of pain in his chest again. She was his mother figure and came everyday to visit him. Sometimes when she couldn't, she would immediately be present the next day with some treats for him. She also tried to get her younger son Sasuke to be friends with him.

Naruto tried. The keyword being 'tried'. Unlike his brother Itachi, Sasuke was what Naruto called one of 'the Generic Uchiha'. Mikoto obaa chan had tried to break him out of the 'stick up my ass' personality but it seemed that Itachi had inherited her friendly personality.

Sasuke was more like his father, Fugaku, in this case. Naruto had met Fugaku a few times and from what he perceived that man believed in might over compassion. It wasn't a bad ideal, but he learned from Shisui that Fugaku had believed that the Uchiha Clan should push further in their shinobi arts and he applied this to his eldest son Itachi.

Itachi was a very kind person as Naruto remembered, in all aspects he was more like his mother. He was also a dangerous shinobi. He graduated from the Academy after a single year at age seven. He became chunnin at ten years old, he entered and won the tournament by himself no less. At 11 he joined ANBU Black Ops and became a Captain in the Black Ops Division by the age of thirteen.

Fugaku Uchiha had truly succeeded with his first born and was constantly peer pressuring Sasuke to be more like his brother. Naruto suspected this was the reason why Sasuke was so gloom and doom all the time and that was the reason he wanted to surpass Itachi to gain his father's praise.

In contrast to his childhood, Naruto had grown up with nothing but acceptance from his mother and brother. His brother was also a prodigy was said to be on par with Itachi or even better. Secretly, Sasuke had seen him spending time with his own family in bliss and even Itachi hung out with him sometimes.

Sasuke was a bit jealous at the fact that his own mother and brother had spent time with Naruto, while he had to work hard to earn the respect of his father which he recently started to gain. Naruto of course did not know that Sasuke felt that way as this was never shared with him.

Naruto shrugged off all the thoughts and felt a familiar noise coming from the depth of his stomach and felt rather embarrassed. He checked his pockets to find that he had some money. As walked down the main town, he still felt the looks of sympathy being given to him as he ignorantly strolled towards the place he had his last meal at. He had more than enough money to satisfy himself to one bowl of miso ramen that he enjoyed last night. Turning around the corner he had found his destination for now.

* * *

Ichiraku's Ramen

There was a familiar fragrance of spices in the air. The atmosphere itself felt very calm inside the said food store. Naruto lazily walked up to the seat and took one for himself. The mid aged man came in with a kind smile and stood in front of Naruto.

"Ho... You were the boy who came yesterday. Did you decide to come back for more of my delicious ramen?" The man had added with a soft smile.

The look in his eyes betrayed him though. Naruto recognized the look but it was different from the looks the villagers gave him today. It was the same look of sadness and understanding that Shisui, Itachi and Mikoto had given him after his mother died.

The man was probably trying to lift his mood in a light manner without making him wallow in self pity.

Naruto appreciated this and gave the most genuine fake smile he could muster.

"Hai. I'll have a miso ramen without the menma please." Naruto said with a stable voice.

"Sure thing son. Ayame!" the man lightly yelled towards the kitchen and gave the order. Naruto had seen Ayame yesterday and to him, she was a pretty cute teenager around the age of Shisui. She had light brown hair and a small beauty mark on the left part of her face.

Unknowingly, Naruto was wondering whether she would've been a good match for Shisui. He had picked up a slight bad habit of match making from both his mother and Mikoto. He cursed himself internally for picking up such an infectious habit.

"Ok tou-san." Ayame said as her head peeped out of the edge of the door and her sight fell on Naruto. She also gave a slight smile and talked, "Oh it's you again. Wait you never told us your name. What is it?"

" Oh sorry. My name is Naruto Uchiha." Naruto introduced himself and bowed his head a little while a kind yet fake smile that was plastered on his face.

This was a strange behavior, to both the man and , judging by their facial resemblances, his daughter Ayame.

The Uchiha don't usually bow their heads to anyone, let alone civilians.

Now they remembered who he was. The son of Genjuro Uchiha, who the common people considered a blight on their shinobi history. But another thing he said had caught their attention.

"So... your name is fishcake?" Ayame asked with a cheeky grin and her father was about to say something but was cut off by said fishcake.

"It means maelstrom." Naruto said with a low grumble.

Ayame and her father were slightly snickering at his behaviour. One thought however crossed both their minds though.

Nope... he's not a normal emotionless / prideful Uchiha.

"Ahem." the man said and coughed into his hands as Naruto took his seat again. "I apologize for my daughter's teasing. She does that a lot of times. My name is Teuchi." He stretched his hand out and Naruto shook it willingly.

They began some small chat and then eventually Teuchi decided to try and help the boy.

"So... Uchiha-san. How do you feel right now?" Teuchi asked with a solemn look on his face.

"Please call me Naruto, Teuchi oji san." Naruto said this and Teuchi perked up at him calling him oji san.

The boy was truly kind and it continuously seem to amaze the father daughter duo as to how normal and down to earth an Uchiha can be. He came here yesterday but he hardly spoke and there were a lot of people at the same time.

"And I am doing fine for now. Thank you for asking."

"Well remember this boy... Anytime you feel like you need to talk or just want some company, don't hesitate to come here." Teuchi smiled and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto was honestly surprised at the man's actions and for the first time today smiled, lightly.

"Arigato oji san." Then he found that Ayame came forward and placed a bowl in front of him. "Arigato Ayame nee san."

Ayame could not help but ruffle the young boy's spiky raven hair. Afterwards, Naruto finished the bowl and tried to pay for it but they insisted that this one was on the house. Naruto exited the establishment with a ghost of a smile still embracing his face. He then noticed that a blonde and red blur raced past him and left him spinning for some reason. All he could make out was that there was some orange in whatever shook his world.

What the hell was that?!

He could then hear some excited yelling of a child coming from Ichiraku's Ramen and Naruto deciding to ignore the bizarre event that just transpired, walked towards the Uchiha Compound.

* * *

The Uchiha Clan Compound

Silence echoed throughout the compound. There were no noises of people walking around, conversing, eating or any general sign of life at all. There was still some dried blood scattered across the ground. It testified what happened less than twenty four hours ago. Naruto strolled through the general empty populace and closed his eyes. This was an exercise he had often performed. Shisui told him it would come very handy one day.

He did not open his eyes.

The images of stabbed bodies and blood splatters were etched into his mind. He could still see them. Eidetic memories stamped into his mind as each and every detail of the gore he witnessed where he used to stroll by came to haunt him.

He unconsciously headed towards his house. It was empty.

He took off his sandals and went for a shower. After he came out, he put on a black full sleeved shirt and blue pants. His hair was unkempt and one of the bangs overshadowed his eyes. He roamed around the house a few times more before activating the Silence and Privacy Seals. His brother had shown him the hand seals as to how to activate them and he memorized them with the Sharingan. The reason he had done this was simple.

In his room, near the leg of his bed he found that the edge of the wooden floor splintered. It was done with a kunai as Naruto himself had often practiced with them enough to know what sort of mark a kunai leaves. This was strange because this was a secret compartment he and Shisui had made.

He placed his arm accordingly on the piece of wood and the entry piece was taken out. He found a Storage Scroll inside. It had the three tomoe of the Sharingan at one end of the scroll.

Naruto had developed a certain fascination towards Fuuinjutsu and had begun the simple Level One Sealing from all the books his parents had. His mother and brother were shocked when they saw him trying to learn seals. It was a rare sight. An Uchiha interested in Seals rather than offensive jutsu. He knew how a storage scroll worked and opened the scroll and pushed his chakra into the scroll.

Nothing happened and Naruto understood the situation clearer. It was a Blood Recognition Storage Scroll, it was a bit of a high quality seal easily Level Five.

Naruto bit his thumb as blood started trickling out and he pushed the thumb down on the scroll along with a slight push of his chakra. The Scroll opened and found that there were five more scrolls sealed into the scroll itself? The scroll however was empty and had no writing on it.

Letting instincts take over, he activated his fully evolved three tomoe Sharingan and saw that there was genjutsu on the scroll. He released with his Sharingan and read the contents in the scroll.

* * *

 _Dear Outoto,_

 _if you're reading this then it means I am most likely dead. I have written this scroll exactly one week after Kaa-chan has died. I am sorry outoto but sometimes we need to grow up faster than we should. I am probably committing treason while writing this but you need to know. For the last three years the animosity between the Village and the Uchiha Clan has increased, it started around the time the Nine Tails had attacked the Village. The village in general suspects that we were behind the attack. I assure you we were not._

 _I have joined the ANBU Black Ops and I have been assigned to be a double agent for the Hokage along with Itachi. It is my duty towards the village that binds me to spy on my own clan. If things keep going at the rate that they are, I fear a full scale rebellion will occur and this will lead to a new Ninja War. I will continue to do my mission to my village and not be tied down by the ties of the clan. When I was a child, I grew up in a time of war. I never want you to suffer the same fate our family has, I will assure it by any means necessary._

 _Do not worry outoto. If I have passed on I want you to move on. You have already awakened your Sharingan and I know you will surpass everyone from our family... no our entire clan. You also have the same beliefs as tou-san and Kaa-chan. You will not fall to the hatred that has consumed one too many Uchiha._

 _My only regret is that I will not be able to see my outoto become the most powerful Uchiha to grace the Elemental Nations. I want you to carry on my dream. I know that one day you will be the one who will liberate the Uchiha's Curse of Hatred._

 _Outoto, I have taken Kaa-chan's eyes and sealed it into a stable glass chamber filled with Chakra Containment Liquid. The vial itself is in one of the compartments of this seal. If you should awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, do not overuse it. Eventually you will go blind. The only way to gain the powers of this dojutsu is to implant new Mangekyou within your eyes from a close relative.I have not taken these because I truly don't feel I am worthy of it. Remember if you do awaken the Mangekyou, you must implant them into your own eyes eventually._

 _Do not think of it as a bad thing. I am sure Kaa-chan won't mind if you implanted her eyes into your own. You are her favorite. Make sure the operation is done by someone who is highly skilled in Iryo Ninjutsu, all the nerves have to be aligned properly otherwise it will be a complete waste._

 _Also, go to the Naka River and head a few miles East from the usual spot where we used to hang out. You will find a ruin of sorts surrounded by shinto threads and strings. Stand by the edge of the ruins and perform these hand seals, remember it can't done without the Sharingan and the person who enters it must be an Uchiha._

 _Tatsu - Ne - Tori - Mi - Inu - Tatsu - Uma - Ushi - Uma - U - Saru - Hitsuji - Tora - Mi_

 _These are the hand seals for the secret entrance to the Uchiha Stone Tablet Chamber. I want you to go there and read it. It will explain a lot about the Uchiha Clan Ancestry and the Sharingan's abilities itself. Remember outoto, do not fall to the arrogance and hatred that has tainted our clan for so long. I know you are better than that just like Itachi. Also if you find this delivered to you by not me, you can figure it was Itachi. He also looks at you like his little brother._

 _I want you to know this outoto. I love you. We all do. Stay safe and grow up to be the fine shinobi we all know you will be._

 _Your brother Shisui._

* * *

Naruto was crying freely again. He understood a lot of it now. Shisui's fears were realized and came to fruition. The Uchiha Clan must've planned a coup, that is why someone like Itachi Uchiha had killed off the entire clan so that the innocents in the village don't have to suffer.

In harsh reality, Naruto did feel a bit of resentment towards the village. They had ostracized his father for choosing the lives of his comrades over the mission, they treated them like scum and the occasional glares and words of resentment did not help at all.

He then remembered what his family taught him. To not be bound by the limits of the clan. Expand your horizons and look at the greater good.

"Nii-san..." Naruto spoke between the sobs. "I will not let any of our families' sacrifice go... in vain... I will carry on your dreams and protect the village... For all of us... I will protect the village from the shadows if need be... But I will also change the way the village looks at the Uchiha. I will change the Uchiha Clan..."

Naruto opened his eyes as the three tomoe spun wildly.

If one were to look closer, you could almost see the silhouette of a chakra taking the shape of man that was clinging to Naruto's shadow.

* * *

 **Author's Notes II:** And there it is folks. Naruto has officially learned the truth behind the massacre... Too soon? Maybe but the way i have planned the story needs naruto to steel his resolve from an early stage otherwise it will be fucked with a capital f. But i hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. A important note, most chapters will be three thousand to ten thousand words. It might be long in some cases, and it might be short in other chapters. Regardless, hit the follow/favorite button if you liked the chapter, if you find any faults please let me know. Also don't forget to review. A fic without reviews is as useless as a degree in astrological science.

As always eat good food, smile when you see other people, change your undies everyday and take care. Ja ne.


	3. The Secrets Beneath Our Shrine

**Hiiiiiiiii (in abridged mr popo's voice)**

 **So i got some complaints about writing the author's notes in boooooollllldddddd capital letters... Sorry i have a fetish for that. But i do want to thank every single one of you for reading and appreciating the fic that i have written. Seriously thank you for all your opinions, reviews, favorites and follows. I mean i am no kitsunedragon but still i really appreciate how you readers have supported the fic and are asking me to continue on with the story... I can say proudly that the uchiha prodigy will be better than the mage of six paths albeit a bit darker at times.**

 **With that said please read the new chapter and tell me how you feel. Also if you want to share any ideas with me or you want to give me advice feel free to do so.**

 **On a side note to cosmicpanda here is the answer to your question: i got that reference from jojo's bizarre adventure the abridged series: phantom blood. Dio brando stated that fact, and after reading about the astronomy chapters in a levels i agree. It was a pointless pain in the ass... I mean i'm not gonna be a fucking astronaut... I am the person who fucks bitches and splashes cunts**

 **...**

 **Ignore the last statement and read the new chapter. Thank you.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA, STUDIO PERRIOT AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

The Naka River

Naruto was skipping stones near the edge of the Naka River. This was their favorite spot on the river. He would sit there for hours while sitting with his mother or brother and stare off into the eternal water that always flowed there. He always felt a certain amount of peace when he stood in the exact same spot he was standing in right now. Skipping stones became a bad habit for him when it came to this place. It was instinctual. Shisui had often told him when he was younger that skipping stones was a good warm up exercise for those who were not shinobi. He used to think it was an absurd lie. He started skipping stones in a shuriken throwing fashion at five, and when he finally started his bukujutsu at six he saw that it was not a lie at all.

The stones were sometimes heavier than conventional shuriken and this helped him when he started the actual exercise. Though his brother had often told him not to rely on the Sharingan all the time as he believed it would greatly hinder his progress as a shinobi in the endgame. Many of the clan members had often prided themselves on the fact that they had the Sharingan. The branch member however could not proudly proclaim that proud ancestry so easily. Very few members from the branch had awakened the Sharingan. Naruto's eldest brother himself had awakened the Sharingan a few moments before his death as Kakashi had stated before, whose left eye was one the Sharingan Obito had awakened. Shisui awakened it after he was attacked by some ANBU Black Ops, something that bothered Naruto to this day. Naruto does not remember the story as to how his parents awakened but guessed that it must've been a similar situation.

After a few more stones had been skipped he started towards the Eastern direction of the Naka River from where he stood. This was going to be a very defining moment for Naruto. He found the shinto boundary and saw the cavern that was digging itself below into the ground. He stood in front of the cavern and activated his Sharingan and looked around carefully for anyone. Right now, he did not fully trust anyone, even more so because this was a clan secret. Any one outside the clan who had gain the knowledge by inept means would face only one punishment: Death.

Seeing that there were no chakra signature he took a moment to contemplate the situation. With the Sharingan, the series of lettered Kanji could be seen clearly on a large slab at the surface of the cavern. He then was mentally remembering all the hand seals that Shisui had written down on the scroll and released a large sigh before performing them.

 _Tatsu - Ne - Tori - Mi - Inu - Tatsu - Uma - Ushi - Uma - U - Saru - Hitsuji - Tora - Mi_

Then the slab raised itself as a light blue colored chakra displayed itself around the corners of the slab. He saw that the slab rose further and was waiting in mid air. Naruto got down in the dug out earth and saw that there was a stair way leading downstairs. It was dark. Too dark. Naruto let out a small sigh and channeled katon chakra to his palms after performing the Mi and Tora hand seals. The flame lit in his palm and he noticed that the slab that was suspended in mid air had come down and closed the entrance.

"Well... At least the slab knows what it's doing." Naruto muttered as he looked at the walls with pure distaste. All of the walls seemed like they had been maintained properly but the color was somewhat depressing. To him at least.

Plain grey.

"Just like the Uchiha mindset. How boring. At least make it an interesting color." Naruto then remembered the red and blonde blur that left him dazed earlier today, and the other color he noticed. "Like orange... On second thoughts no. Who in their right mind would wear orange? It must have been my imagination."

* * *

Somewhere in the Leaf Village

A girl seven years of age stood at 3'8" tall and was grinning with her eyes closed. She looked like a mad scientist with that grin on her face. She had light skin and had three faint whisker marks on each of her cheeks. Her face was had baby fat which was an added factor to her bubbly cuteness. Now she opened her eyes and a deep violet shade could be seen clearly. Her hair sun kissed blonde hair had streaks of red in it was smooth and flowing. It was done in twin pigtails. She wore a orange hoodie which had some blue in it and wore orange pants as well. As if it couldn't get any worse, it was neon orange. It stood out way too much.

All of a sudden she sneezed.

"Someone must've caught my prank."

* * *

Uchiha Stone Tablet Chamber.

Naruto made it all the way down the stairs and found the said object that was mentioned in said scroll.

The Uchiha Stone Tablet.

It was granite in color and seemed almost as ancient as the Village itself. Of course it was. It was here before even the Village started. Naruto went over and started to read the Stone Tablet. It was unreadable. He activated his Sharingan once more and saw that he could now understand what was written on the tablet.

The first contents of the Stone Tablets had contained general notes of the Sharingan. It's function and abilities to copy any jutsu down to the last detail and make a perfect copy. It had however failed to mention the fact that there was no guarantee the copied jutsu would be as powerful as the original jutsu it was derived from. Shisui had explained this to him a year ago. It also contained information on the maturity of the Sharingan, stating that the minute each Sharingan eye obtains three tomoe the Sharingan has been perfected.

The next content was the details on the life of Madara Uchiha. It seemed strange to him. Why would the Stone Tablet have writings on Madara Uchiha? He then saw that some of the notes themselves were left by Madara himself.

It contained notes on how Madara played a huge part during the Era Of the Warring States and was considered to be one of the most powerful Uchiha in existence. He had often fought against the Senju Clan of the Forest and particularly against their leader at that time. Hashirama Senju, even then he was considered the God of Shinobi. After years of never ending conflict between the two clans, the Uchiha and the Senju contracted a peace agreement between the two and formed the first Ninja Village. It came to be known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Every other Elemental Nation then adopted this system and hence, the Shinobi Villager Per Nation System came to be.

Some time after Tobirama was made Hokage, Madara had defected from the Village and went on his way becoming a rogue ninja. He swore that he would get rid of the paradox created by the Village System and bring 'true peace'. That was his opinion that was scribbled into the tablet.

He returned with a vengeance.

Armed with the Nine Tails, he fought against Hashirama Senju and changed the entire landscape that forms the border of the Hi no Kuni. The devastating effects of their ungodly battle is still present today. It is now known as the Valley of the End. Two titanic statues of Hashirama and Madara were erected there as a testament to their historic battle.

To the Hidden Leaf Village, Madara Uchiha was a traitor. He was the definition of everything Konoha ever went against. All the people generally regarded Madara to be nothing but a malevolent force in the shinobi world who only knew how to create mass wide destruction and chaos. The Uchiha Clan themselves held a high disregard for Madara. He was the reason why, according to them anyway, the Village would always suspect them. He was the Ghost of the Uchiha Clan. Ironic how they ended doing the exact same thing he did only some decades apart.

To Naruto however, Madara Uchiha was a target. A level that no other shinobi could ever reach. When he once said that he wants to reach Madara Uchiha's level his mother gasped and bonked him on the head. Naruto never understood why people looked towards Madara in such an antagonistic way. Sure, he went against the Village. He brought the Kyuubi and fought Hashirama Senju, he threatened to destroy Konoha itself. In general, he is the one shinobi a person should never dream to be. Why not? There was no denying the power that Madara held. He was the only one who could match the First Hokage, who is generally regarded to this day to be the strongest shinobi in history. Naruto wanted to be that strong. He wanted to reach the level Madara was at, but he would never turn his back on the Village. Not after how his family had given their lives to protect their home. Doing that would be tantamount to spitting on their graves.

Moving on he read the second description of the Tablet. He found the description of two dojutsu that were clearly written as forbidden jutsu. They were kinjutsu and absolutely forbidden to use. Regardless, Naruto read on.

The first one was Izanagi. It was a powerful genjutsu that was cast on the user instead of the victim. When the Izanagi is activated, the boundaries between reality and illusion are discarded for the user. For a brief amount of time, the caster of the Izanagi is able to control their state of existence. I.E: warp reality for themselves. The main usage and purpose is for the user to cast off injuries or mortal wounds as mere 'illusions' and then fade away, only to return to reality unscathed. The price for this genjutsu was also too high. Once the caster would use the Izanagi, they would permanently lose the light from one of their eyes. They would become blind from which eye the jutsu was cast.

It was also stated that many Uchiha members had abused this jutsu and got lost in the power of the Izanagi which lead to inner conflict within the Clan. Members would fight each other over the supremacy of their visual prowess and the usage of the Izanagi became a common phenomenon, leading to the death of many members.

Seeing this the Uchiha Clan had come up with another jutsu to counter this jutsu specifically. It was the perfect counter to Izanagi.

This visual kinjutsu was known Izanami.

Izanami was different from Izanagi in many aspects.

Whereas Izanagi had warped reality itself, the genjutsu prowess of the Izanami depended on physical sensations between the user and the target. To activate the technique, an arbitrary moment would be chosen at first. The caster then uses their Sharingan to remember the physical sensation felt by the bodies of both the caster and the target during that instant (Call this Moment A). Then after some time, the user must then intentionally replicate the sensation in the same way of that captured moment once more, they have to memorize this moment as well (Moment B). The flow of time between the two events must also be carefully considered and recorded. Several other moments can also be recorded, but it is mandatory that the inital moment and final moment must be the same for the jutsu to work.

The Izanami is then activated and the opponent's consciousness is then trapped in an infinite loop of events between the two moments. (Between Moment A and B). The more moments recorded between the two moments would result in a more effective application of the Izanami.

Once captured, the body of the target stands motionlessly while the infinite loop of events keep repeating themselves. Even if the target becomes aware of the sensations and tries to cast it off as an illusion it would be impossible to escape, unless one had truly accepted their fate. The real reason this jutsu was developed so that the abusers of the Izanagi could realize what they have done and finally realize their mistakes, so that they can reprimand themselves. In this case the users of the Izanagi.

The illusionary caster in the genjutsu is also somewhat sentient. The actions in the loop of events such as verbal actions would also be repeated on a never ending loop. The illusion of the caster would also keep telling the victim to take a closer look at the chain of events brought forth by them and acknowledge their mistakes.

The Izanagi has the power to alter destiny, but the Izanami has the power to 'decide' destiny. As the same case with Izanagi, the usage of the Izanami also causes blindness to take over the eye from which the genjutsu. Ironically, the Izanami is not to be used on enemies, but on friends who have lost their way and is used as a means to help them find themselves again.

Naruto was deeply affected by the two kinjutsu he read about. Silently, he prayed to whatever God was out there that he would never have to use either of these jutsu in his natural life. He then got on to the topic that was crucial to the Uchiha heritage and the powers their eyes held.

The Secrets of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

It stated clearly that the Mangekyou Sharingan was the next level of the Sharingan. The only way for a person to achieve the higher power that is known as the Mangekyou Sharingan is through killing the person who was closest to you.

Naruto now frowned at that statement.

"Something's wrong with that statement... It's almost like as if someone wrote that there on purpose."

Naruto had awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan without killing anybody. He was pretty sure that his parents and brother had also awakened theirs without killing anybody that was close to them. They couldn't. They were just not that sort of people who would kill a person they love, they hold dearly to their chests. The same could be said for Itachi. The whole statement itself caused Naruto to disregard whatever information the Tablet may present next. Still curiosity took the better of him and he kept on reading.

The Stone Tablet had nothing else written on it. But Naruto knew better and remembered the words Shisui had written and activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. It stung a little bit as he closed his eyes for a moment before opening his eyes. The four bladed scythe wheel present in his eyes.

"Maybe it's because I am not strong enough to wield it yet. Gotta do this quick."

He then read the tablet once more and found out about the abilities the Mangekyou Sharingan grants.

The first one was Tsukuyomi. It was considered to be a powerful genjutsu that alters the user's affect on time itself. The amount of time spent when caught in the genjutsu is exponentially multiplied to that of the actual time spent in the real world. Naruto shivered as he remembered the effects of the jutsu. How he had to watch Itachi slaughter the entire clan, murder Mikoto and rip out Shisui's eyes.

The next ability he read about was Amaterasu. Amaterasu was a visual jutsu that depended on precise visual focus. Upon the mere intensity of the gaze, black flames would conjure on the location and incinerate the object. The Amaterasu Flames could not be extinguished by any normal means. Only the caster of the jutsu, has the ability to negate the flames and that too requires great focus. When left unattended, Amaterasu will continue to burn for seven days and seven nights before extinguishing on it's own.

"I wonder if it can be sealed." Naruto mused as he remembered Shisui sealing a fire jutsu into a scroll. "Must be one hell of an Elemental Capture Seal to seal flames like Amaterasu."

Now came the part that scared Naruto a bit. The Kotoamatsukami. It was considered to be the perfect genjutsu that a Sharingan user could ever hope to awaken. The Kotoamatsukami would literally invade the mind of a subject and implant ideas. Absolute control over the mind while the victim would have no idea that said person is under a genjutsu. The victim would be entirely convinced that every action they are taking would be according to their free will. However, the drawback was that to fully utilize the effect of the Kotoamatsukami, both eyes would be needed to perform the genjutsu on a perfect scale.

 _Such a powerful genjutsu. In the wrong eye sockets, this can cause widespread panic._

Naruto then went on to read about the infamous Space Time Jutsu of the Mangekyou Sharingan. The Kamui. The Kamui had three abilities. One was that the user could create a void or a black hole on a small scale to absorb/transport a certain object to a personal dimension of said visual jutsu. The second ability was a transportation technique that took the user itself to the personal dimension, and then reappear to a certain location whose entire geography was well versed into the mind of the user. The third and most dangerous ability was Intangibility. The body or chosen parts of the body would not exist in this realm and phase through whatever attacks that would be cast at them. The sever drawback of this ability was that the user could not attack in this state and had to materialize to attack. This gave the opponents the time to attack within that same time frame.

"Every jutsu has a weakness." Naruto muttered to himself. This is what Itachi had once taught him along with Shisui. Even an invincible jutsu like the Kamui had a weakness on this scale. To most it would seem invincibility, but a seasoned shinobi could exploit this weakness and use it to his advantage.

Naruto then read the next topic which was both exciting and bone chilling for him.

The Mangekyou Sharingan could control Tailed Beasts.

"..."

The Mangekyou Sharingan was capable of enhancing every other power the user had. Even a normal genjutsu would be nearly three times as powerful. The Mangekyou user would be able to control a Tailed Beast through their visual prowess and for all intents and purposes, turn the mighty beasts into pets. Naruto figured that Madara must've controlled the Nine Tails through this. It was also mentioned that Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsokeami are the perfect genjutsu to control Tailed Beasts, of course powerful genjutsu other than these could also control but to a much lesser scale. They could however suppress the chakra that a Bijuu or it's Jinchuuriki would be moderating. This was way too much information for Naruto to handle, thankfully he had brought along a scroll and was furiously writing down all the contents of the Stone Tablet. He would later evaluate all the writings and make his own conclusion.

Then came the next ability granted by the Mangekyou. A technique. A technique that is considered the pinnacle of the power the Mangekyou holds. The ability to summon an ethereal warrior's body around the dojutsu user's body. It acted as both as the perfect defense and a brutal offense.

The Susano'o.

The Susano'o was considered to be the final ability that the Mangekyou manifests. Legends state that the Susano'o itself is capable of holding on it's own against Tailed Beasts. Naruto figures that the entire situation must depend on the user. Just having the Susano'o and utilizing the Susano'o properly are two completely different things. The Susano'o itself consists of five stages.

The first stage would form a rib cage made of pure ethereal chakra, each user had a different colored Susano'o. This stage acts mostly as a defense.

The second stage forms a skeletal head and hands which can be user to attack the enemies but has a limited range unless the user moves along with the Susano'o activated.

The third stage has ethereal flesh covering the Susano'o and allows more mobility. In some cases, the Susano'o has two additional arms protruding out. Usually this happens in the next level.

The fourth stage has a shroud of armor covering the Susano'o increasing it's already sturdy defense. This one also allows the Susano'o access to weapons in accordance to the user's abilities.

The fifth and final stage of the Susano'o is called the Full Body Susano'o. It is stated clearly in the Stone Tablet that, those who see the Perfect Susano'o facing down on them don't live to tell the tale. In this form it is said to be at the same heights as the Tailed Beasts and has a complete body. It consists of four arms, covered by reinforced armor and a prominent tengu nose. It also has a certain long range weapon known as the magatama which is hurled at the opponents. It can easily cause widespread destruction without much effort.

However the prices for all the magnificent abilities that the Mangekyou is the same. Vast amounts of chakra usage and exhaustion. There is also a very important factor about the usage of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Those who overuse their eyes will eventually go blind. The only way to retain the 'light' of these eyes is to replace your original eyes with the Sharingan of another who has awakened the Mangekyou themselves. This will cause the two Mangekyou to overlap and negate the blindness caused by the usage. These eyes are known as the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

Naruto then closed his eyes for a bit and deactivated his Sharingan. He sat down and unsealed a water bottle that he brought with him. He knew there were still some things to read so he activated his Mangekyou once more and started to read. The next passages of the Stone Tablet shocked him.

The Stone Tablet was apparently created by Hagoromo Otsutsuki, better known as the Sage of Six Paths. The Stone Tablet was his creation and the passages inscribed were written by him. Apparently he had fought his mother who was considered to be a cruel godlike being. She was considered to be the first user of chakra. She had eaten the fruit of a forbidden tree and obtained the ability to mold and use chakra. Later on her son, Hagoromo had also inherited her powers and had a legendary dojutsu known as the Rinnegan. This was considered to be the most rare and powerful of the three dojutsu. His mother Kaguya Ootsutsuki had used the tree's power to reflect a never ending genjutsu off the surface of the moon and trapped the people in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Hagoromo later defeated his mother and freed the people with his Rinnegan.

The Rinnegan apparently granted it's users powers that was unlike any other and gave them the ability to use Yin and Yang Chakra. Later the tree from which the fruit was eaten had come to life and took the form of a hideous beast with one lone eye and ten tails. This beast was known the Juubi, the Ten Tails. The Sage of Six Paths later fought the Juubi who had come to wreck widespread destruction and reclaim the chakra that was stolen from the tree. The Sage then defeated the Juubi and sealed it's chakra into himself. He later separated the Juubi's chakra into smaller parts inside his body. They took the shape of nine different beasts with different amounts of tails. They were later known as the Tailed Beasts.

Hagoromo then roamed the world and spread ninjutsu. He became known as the Father of All Shinobi. Hagoromo had two sons. The older had inherited his mental energy and his ocular powers. The younger one had inherited his physical powers and dense chakra. On his deathbed, the Sage chose the younger son to be his successor who believed that true peace can be achieved through the combined efforts of people. The older brother had always believed in power and conquest were the means by which the world would attain peace.

After the Sage died, his sons had fought time and time again. The Tailed Beasts had reformed and each went their own way. Even now the descendants of the Sage's sons were enemies. The older son's descendants came to be known as the Uchiha. The younger son's descendants came to be known as the Senju. Hence the cycle never ends. At the end Stone Tablet was a passage inscribed by the Sage himself.

"Seeking stability one god was divided into yin and yang. These opposing two acting together obtain all things in creation."

This sentence had two meanings according to Naruto anyway. One: two opposing forces would act together to bring peace. Or, two: A person with both those powers could bring peace himself if he willed himself to.

Naruto guessed that the the combinations of the Senju and the Uchiha bloodlines would mutate the Rinnegan to exist.

"This is way too much information lying around on a stone tablet. Somehthing's not right." Naruto stared at the tablet once more.

He found another passage.

"When someone who possesses the power of Samsara approaches the moon, an eye will open that is reflected on the moon to grant the eternal dream to those who were wronged."

"*sigh*" Naruto sat down and closed his eyes for a long time. "So the Mugen Tsukuyomi will redeem the Uchiha... Such nonsense. To take away the will of the people and trap them under an illusion forever. How despicable. Rikoudo Sennin. I don't know why you wrote that second verse. But, I am going to go with first conclusion of working together with an opposite force. This village itself is a symbol of what can be achieved when people work together. Though there are a few things that I'd like to change."

Naruto got up and looked around the chamber and found a secret compartment. It was hidden under a genjutsu. It contained scrolls of ninjutsu and genjutsu. Naruto took them and sealed them into the scroll he brought with him.

"I'll return it later." He got up and was going to go the way back out but saw there was another flight of stairs in the opposite direction and headed up. He used his Sharingan and performed the same hand seals. The door that blocked his path moved away. He was now in the Naka Shrine.

"So the clan built a secret bunker beneath the Shrine. No one would suspect if anybody held meetings there. How Uchiha of us."

* * *

Naruto rushed back to his home. He sealed all the scrolls into his hidden compartment. Thank the Sage that Shisui had left more empty slots in the Blood Recognition Storage Scroll. He would have to study all the scrolls later. If he starts his training now seriously, he could deal with problems much more easily in the near future.

He then got ready to go to the funeral. He took a good look at his room with his Sharingan to memorize where everything was. He could not trust people easily now. Unless they were genuinely dense, of course.

* * *

Naruto stepped out of his house. He walked towards the gate of the Clan Compound to see that Sasuke waiting for him. This was a strange sight for him. Sasuke Uchiha had never even deigned to speak to him willingly and was now waiting for him.

 _Maybe the Clan Massacre changed him._

"Where the hell were you?" Sasuke asked with a cold tone. His eyes looked like they could bore holes through Naruto's body.

"Sorry. I still feel a bit weak. I had gone to the Naka Shrine first to pr-"

"Save it." Sasuke cut him off. "Even now you disrespect your own clan. At least have some respect for the dead." Sasuke walked off leaving Naruto behind.

Naruto simply looked at the fading figure of Itachi's brother walking into the distance.

 _Looks like I was wrong. Kami... if you're out there, please help me bear my stuck up Uchiha brethren._

* * *

Konoha Cemetery

There was large table near Hokage Burial Sculpture. It had another sculpture that depicted the Will of Fire. It represented the Will that Hashirama Senju believed in. The belief that people should band together and put aside their differences to work for a better future. It was the same belief that the Sage's younger son believed in. Now Naruto, after seeing the devotion his family had towards it and how they would give their lives to preserve this, also believed in it with all his heart. The Stone Tablet only went on to further increase his faith.

On the table were pictures of all the people that were massacred. Only two pictures mattered to Naruto more than anything else. Coincidentally enough, both were placed side by side. The first was Shisui Uchiha's. They could not find his body and assumed that he was dead, slain by the hands of Itachi as the village proclaimed. The second one was that of Naruto's aunt / mother like figure, Mikoto Uchiha. The only person after his family that gave a damn about him. He let off a sad and heavy sigh.

 _What did she do to deserve this? What did any of the younger children do to deserve this? Because of the foolishness of some people the entire clan has to suffer. I will not let this happen again. The Uchiha Clan will be redeemed. I will protect this village and the dreams of my ancestors. Madara Uchiha may have tried to destroy this place, but he also founded this village. The Uchiha Clan and the Elders had tried to rebel against the village in general and died because of them, but they forgot that this was their home. I will keep the dreams of my family alive. I will protect the village Shisui nii. Obito nii, I may have never met you but I will continue your dream and become Hokage and forever change the way of the Uchiha. Tou san. Kaa chan... I will make you proud._

Naruto laid the flowers on the pictures and personally laid more flowers on the graves. He saw that the Clan Heads of Konoha had come and some of them had offered Naruto their condolences. Their children and other members of their families had come as well. There was also a general number of civilians that had turned up as well. The surprising fact was that some of them had offered their condolences as to Naruto. That was a strange experience for him. Usually they throw verbal daggers at him, then Naruto understood the bigger picture.

 _Trying to gain favors from the Uchiha Clan huh? Figured I was too young and naive. How foolish._

He then saw that Sasuke had a genuine air of sorrow around him and was going to speak to him. He may have been an ass but he was still a clan member. He did not get the chance to. He was surrounded by many civilians one of whom Naruto recognized. The woman in particular had a high pitched voice who had often verbally berate his family. Seeing her, Naruto just walked away. He would have time to speak with Sasuke later. He then walked out. All the time he felt someone was watching him.

* * *

Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound.

Naruto activated the privacy seals which he saw from the scroll. Apparently Shisui had gone to great lengths to secure the house with seals. His fascination towards fuuinjutsu had often drawn scoffs from fellow members of the Clan, but Naruto now saw the advantage of it. He would later have to study it to a great extent. He then remembered what Kakashi, a former teammate from his eldest brother Obito's team, had once spoken to Shisui about.

"A single well placed kunai can kill a man who knows over a thousand jutsu."

"Wise words indeed. Now let's get started." Naruto took out a scroll and started to read it. He had already mastered the Academy Basic Three a year ago and was well on his way to learn tree walking. Though his bukujutsu ,without the use of Sharingan still needed more work. According to Shisui and Itachi, Naruto had low jounin level chakra but not much of a control over it. Then he finished reading one of the many scrolls that Shisui had left him.

"Solid clones. Takes up a strenuous amount of chakra. So this is why Shadow Clones are forbidden jutsu. But then again it has mental and muscle memory shared functions, meaning the user receives all the memories and experiences of the Shadow Clone. This may help more than I thought"

Naruto released a sigh and studied the scroll in front of him a bit more.

"I have a lot of work to do."

* * *

 **Well there we are folks. I hope you guys are liking the pace at which I am going. Though I believe there will be a time skip in the next chapter. Yes I have decided that. Can't let you folks just keep reading things before the actual story starts. I mean that's why you read this in the first place. Anyway, leave a follow or a favorite if you enjoyed this chapter to some extent. Expect the next chapter in less than a week. PS Dont forget to review. I really appreciate it when you guys review my works. It feels even better when you guys praise the parts you like and criticize the mistakes I make. Seriously thank you guys.**

 **Until we meet in the next chapter you guys. Stay safe. Ja ne!**


	4. A Passage of Two Years and A Meeting

**Hey there everyone Rifat here with the new chapter of the Uchiha Prodigy. As usual, let's start with the most important thing about this fic: YOU. Yes, I am not brown nosing here. I am genuinely thanking you guys for encouraging me to continue on with the story. You guys have been kind enough to leave your opinions and reviews which I am really grateful for. Also, you guys are liking what I have to offer. That is more than anything I could ask from you guys. So I guess a lot of people might be a little wittle itsy bitsy pissed that I am still taking the story at a slow pace. Well, I am doing this because I want you to see how my version of an Uchiha born Naruto actually grows up. But I am not going to dwell on that fact forever. Hence, a time skip (of two years) has taken place and you will see from which point the story now continues.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA, STUDIO PERRIOT AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

"Speech" - human, summons

 _Thoughts - "" " " " " " " " " " "_

 **"Speech" -** Bijuu, boss level summons

 ** _Thoughts -_** _" " " " " " " " " " " " " " "_

* * *

Time Skip: Two Years

In the Naka Shrine Secret Chamber

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu"

"Suiton: Taihoudan"

A large ball of fire met with a large projectile of water head on. The bright red flames slowly, but surely consumed and overpowered the sphere of water and headed towards the caster of the water jutsu. Upon impact, the boy consumed by the flames popped up into smoke.

"Dammit! My water style is still this weak." The caster of the fire jutsu yelled in frustration. The caster himself is 4'6" and he still had spiky hair that just reach his forehead and two bangs framed the sides of his face while some of it went back down to his neck. He wanted to grow it longer but he decided against it. For some reason, him and his eldest brother Obito had some resemblances to their ancestor Madara. If Naruto kept his hair longer then he would unmistakably look like him and this would cause more turmoil for him. The Village had ordered the massacre of the Uchiha Clan because of an attempted coup, and if he starts to look like their greatest traitor then he'd be executed before he had a chance.

Over the last two years Naruto has been training himself vigorously. The Shadow Clone jutsu in particular helped more than he would admit. The problem was that until recently he could make only one clone and then by the end of the day he'd be exhausted both from training and the maintenance of the clone. Now he could make three and go around easily. In terms of chakra he had low jounin level. His control with chakra was better than he thought he would have though, probably around low chunnin level. He recently finished tree walking or in his case, wall walking. He had begun secretly training on water walking when Sasuke wasn't around. That was coming along nicely too, if he had more time without looking over his shoulders constantly he could've finished it in a little over 10 days.

Last year he had discovered that he was a natural sensor. Strangely enough he sometimes felt people around the Uchiha Clan Compound and he figure it must've been ANBU or Danzo's men. Shisui had particularly left behind warnings about the man named Danzo Shimura and told Naruto to avoid him at all costs. Apparently he was the head of the Foundation or ROOT as some called it. They were a set of ruthless Black Ops who obeyed Danzo more than the Hokage. Naruto had become a little paranoid by the end of the eighth year of his life. He had dedicated his free time entirely to training. Ever since he learned about the change in the Academy Curriculum he had gotten pissed off. How did Konoha think that basic bukujutsu, the Academy Three and some chakra theory would help prepare them for the real world? It was a cruel and terrible world, Naruto was a living example of what the Shinobi World could do to you.

Shisui had also told him to make sure to bash the Civilian Council as much as possible. They were pointless and when the situations are maneuvered properly their decisions can be made absolutely useless.

He had unknowingly started to become what he did not want to be. An antisocial Uchiha. He himself did not even realize when he started to outright become annoyed by the general people. People would sometimes try to speak, he brushed them off albeit in polite manner. Unlike a certain Uchiha who merely "Hn"-ed and walked away with a cold glare. He could've sworn he heard a banshee shriek during one of the incidents.

The only people that Naruto ever spoke was the Hokage and Sasuke. The Hokage, being the kind old man he was genuinely cared about Naruto. Even after the whole incident with his father, he remembered hearing from his mother and Shisui nii that Old Man Hiruzen never berated them and considered the villagers to be fools if they could not recognize the importance of Genjuro and Obito's sacrifices. He was one of the people Naruto would sometimes even smile with.

With Sasuke... it was more of a need to know basis. He had basically started asking him whether he knew any jutsu and what Itachi did to him during the night of the massacre. Naruto simply replied that Itachi had caught him in a genjutsu and kept showing him the events of the massacre and then Naruto would choke back some sobs. Every time he spoke about that he remembered the scenes of Shisui's eyes being ripped out and Mikoto being stabbed. He had puked a number of times when remembering this. But, he also remembered why Itachi did this. If the Uchiha Clan did go through with the revolt, successful or not it would lead to a war. The world didn't need a Fourth Great Ninja War.

Also, with Sasuke he wanted to know if Naruto knew any jutsu to which he replied that he knows the basic henge jutsu and Katon: Ichi, the most basic fire jutsu or if you could even call it a jutsu. Katon: Ichi was simply molding chakra and producing a small flicker of a flame on your fingertip, even Academy student could do it. Sasuke then, with arrogance, asked if he could perform the Great Fireball Technique. Now Naruto being the kind person he was would've said the truth and smiled. But ever since he read Shisui's scrolls and the Uchiha Stone Tablet he did not know who to trust. So he lied, he did not know the Fireball Jutsu and in a rare show of kinship or clanship Sasuke showed him how to do the Fireball Jutsu. Naruto nearly smirked at the size of the Fireball. He could make it twice as large as that and fire it four times, that was his limit back then. Naruto had thanked him but Sasuke once more being the infant ass he was brushed him off and treated him like the branch member he was. Naruto kept his anger in check and constantly reminded himself, _This is Mikoto Obaa chan's son and Tachi nii's brother... Don't kill him..._

Apart from them he would sometimes speak to the father daughter duo of Ichiraku's Ramen, he had even stopped his visits there once learned to cook properly. Thank Kami, his mother left scrolls upon scrolls of her delicious recipes. He had even invited Sasuke for a little lunch one day but Sasuke refused. But one thing was certain, Sasuke behaved much more socially with him more than he did with the entire village in general. He'd have to fix that but eventually even Naruto stopped trying and minded his own business. He started to just focus his time on the various scrolls left by his brother and the other scrolls he discovered at the Uchiha Stone Tablet.

His fully evolved Sharingan training was coming along nicely but it did leave him visibly strained after long term usage. He did not attempt to use the Mangekyou because he knew that not only would he go blind from usage but he would also leave him with a case of chakra exhaustion. If his body could not handle the Sharingan without strain, how could he even hope using the Mangekyou in his eyes.

Fuuinjutsu and bukujutsu were coming along greatly as well. He couldn't start kenjutsu because he did not have a blade. He always thought that Shisui looked so cool with his tanto. In terms of fuuinjutsu, he was midway through Fuuinjutsu. This had played a large part on his chakra control and understanding. He still did not know why people underestimated the power of seals. They were deadly if used properly. Naruto thanked Shisui who had copied these from the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Scrolls. They were an extinct clan who specialized in fuuinjutsu and kenjutsu. At least that's what Naruto learned from history books at the library, they were also cousins of the Senju Clan. They had created various seals that could seal Tailed Beasts into humans making them Jinchuriki. Hashirama's wife was Mito Uzumaki who is still considered to be the most dangerous kunoichi to ever walk in the Elemental Nations.

Now Naruto is fairly confident that he would be able to fend off against low chunnins with fair ease and probably draw against mid level chunnins. He would start weight training later as Shisui's training scrolls had indicated. He had often spent time at the library for hours without saying a single word, unless he couldn't reach the upper shelves which he didn't need most of the time.

Naruto now once again took out a piece of chakra paper and channeled his chakra. It split into three parts. Two parts in equal size, one had literally caught fire which indicated his high fire affinity and the other one crumpled up significantly. The smallest part was soggy. This indicated that Naruto had natural affinities for fire, lightning and wind. His water was significantly weaker than his other three affinities. He was currently working to increase his affinity for water but was failing. He figured he would have to do water based chakra exercises to get a better control over Suiton. He sighed and realized that someone had entered the Naka Shrine.

He went upstairs and saw that it was himself, or rather his clone. He dispelled the clone and sat in the shrine for some time. The great thing about Shadow Clones was not only the shared knowledge but also the physical benefits that came with it. He had experimented with this once last year and left a Shadow Clone at home and do chores, but also to relax and sleep for a long time. Needless to say, when the Clone dispelled Naruto felt more relaxed and felt like some of his energy had returned. He was sure that his family was smiling from heaven at seeing his useful deduction.

He wasn't wrong, Satsuki Uchiha was a happy woman right now.

Back to the plot at hand Naruto once more peeped into the Stone Tablet Chamber and saw that there were no visible traces of the jutsu that were fired there. Or any traces of chakra as Naruto had constantly sparred with his clones.

"Maybe this place has a self maintenance jutsu." Naruto thought aloud as he put a hand on his chin. "Who am I kidding? If a jutsu like that existed then people would never work."

Naruto exited the shrine and went to his house. He did not feel like cooking. Tomorrow would be a somewhat important day for him. The Academy would start.

"It's going to be a long and boring five years. *sigh* I seriously hope there are interesting people there." Naruto said with a mumble. He then looked at the clock and figured he'd go out to eat today. "Maybe I should go to Ichiraku's. I haven't exactly been nice to them recently."

Naruto put on a deep blue shirt and changed into some black shorts. The shirt did not have the Uchiha Clan symbol. Why you ask? One: He didn't like to flaunt it off and put a giant target mark on his back. Two: from what he learned from Shisui's notes, he would soon have to face the bane of the Uchiha Clan... Fangirls.

Naruto shivered at the thought of them. The way Shisui had _specifically_ written about them, he was outright scared. Naruto shrugged the terrifying thoughts aside and decided to go out.

* * *

Konoha Main Town

Naruto walked by as generically as he could. He mostly avoided making eye contact with the people. Over the years he had started to resent the people because they showed they were two faced opportunists. The same people who glared at him, now greeted him with smiles. He kept his stoic face up while suppressing the emotions he felt. He found his desired location and entered Ichiraku's.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's! How may we- Oh Naruto! It's been a long time my boy! How are you?" Teuchi exclaimed with genuine happiness and surprise. Naruto couldn't stop small grin from appearing on his face.

"I'm fine Teuchi Oji San." Naruto bowed his head and sat down. "How have you and Ayame nee san been? I'm sorry I can't visit as much as I want to."

"It's alright my boy!" Teuchi said while placing a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I'd be lying if I said I know how you feel. But as I said before we're here if you want to talk. Ayame said that you were probably the most polite boy of your age."

Naruto embarrassingly scratched the back of his head. "Geez Oji san... Don't say it like that. So can I have some ramen?"

"Well of course you can. Which one will it be?"

"I'm not sure. Let's go with one of your choice." Naruto smiled and said this.

"Well said. Ayame! One pork ramen with extra toppings! Make it special we've got a VIP here!" Teuchi's statement made Naruto feel sheepish and warm at the same time.

 _They're really nice people._ Naruto thought with a small smile.

"Okay tou chan!" Ayame's voice came from the kitchen in the back room.

Naruto waited for a few minutes and then Ayame herself came and immediately ruffled Naruto's hair while asking him where he had been with a glare. Naruto shrunk under that glare. It was the same one his mom and Mikoto obaa chan gave him.

 _Why are women so scary?_ Naruto had been sweating bullets and gave a polite and believable explanation.

He was genuinely surprised by the delicious taste of the ramen. It was far more superior to the miso one he had. He finished it and payed for it much to the annoyance of the Ichiraku's and then had some small talk with them. At one point, the Konoha Academy topic came up and Naruto mentioned that he would start his journey tomorrow.

"Oh so you'll be attending the academy as well. Good luck Naru chan!" Ayame exclaimed as she her face got annoyingly close to Naruto's who turned red and shifted his gaze. Ayame and Teuchi giggled at his shyness. One thing caught his attention though. Ayame said he would be attending the academy _as well_.

"Umm Ayame nee san?" Naruto asked with some nervousness. It was somewhat of a personal question as Naruto thought. "Is someone you know going to start the Academy as well?"

"Aren't you a smart one Naru chan?" Ayame said. "In fact Kasumi is going to start the Academy as well."

"Is she your little sister?" The way Ayame spoke indicated excitement on sibling level. Shisui often spoke like this it Itachi while bragging about how Naruto would be better than Sasuke.

"You could say that" Ayame's answer left Naruto a bit confused and Teuchi spoke up.

"Kasumi is a little girl who comes here all the time. In fact, she's my number one customer." Teuchi gave a small laugh. "She's around your age and quite a ball of energy that one."

"Oh! Wait why does she come here all the time? Aren't her parents with her?" Naruto asked and saw the sad looks on the face of the Ichirakus. Naruto immediately understood and apologized to them. They said it was alright. Apparently they were really fond of this Kasumi person. He could only guess what she was like. Maybe she was kind and polite like him. She'd probably be well mannere-

The gates of Ichraku's Ramen were shot open as someone entered.

"Yo! Oji! Ayame Nee Chan! The next Hokage is here-ttebayo!" A voice of a girl invaded the beautiful landscape of silence.

Naruto was looking at the person the voice belonged to.

She was around 4'2" and had light skin. Three whisker marks were endeared onto each cheek. Her face had significant amounts of baby fat. Her hair blonde hair looked as if the sun had decided to kiss it. There were noticeable shades of red in them as well and it was done in twin pigtails. However three things had caught his mind more than anything else. Her lips were pink. Naruto could tell when women put on make up and other cosmetics, because of his sharp eyes. The second was the hideous garb of orange that was all over her body. Seriously. Why was it glowing? The third and the last feature that captured his entire attention was her vision.

Deep violet eyes. They looked so happy and full of life. It was entrancing. Naruto was lost for a moment in those violet shades as Ayame coughed to get her attention back. She had a cheeky grin on her face, one that mirrored the ones Mikoto had. Before Ayame could say anything, the orange clad girl spoke up.

"HA!" said girl was pointing at Naruto. "You have girly hair!" She then laughed.

Naruto sweat dropped. _She doesn't even know me and is openly criticizing me?_

"Well Naruto I'd like you to meet Kasumi. Our number one favorite customer." Teuchi said as Kasumi came up and took the seat that was a bit away from Naruto. She was grinning and Naruto wanted to speak to her more, but against his better judgement decided not to. He could speak to her later.

"Well old man I think I'll be leaving now." Naruto got up from his seat. "Thank you for the meal." Teuchi and Ayame also said goodbye to him. Naruto smiled at them both and saw that Kasumi was looking at him with a strange expression on her face.

It was kind of cute actually. But Naruto never voiced it.

He looked straight at Kasumi while he was still smiling.

"See you later."

Naruto left and exited the store.

Kasumi was sitting silently in her own thoughts and eventually spoke up.

"Oi Oji! Who was that girly boy?!" Kasumi then exclaimed. Teuchi and Ayame were looking at her with peaked interest.

 _Kasumi's never asked about anyone before._

"That was Naruto... Why did you want to know?" Teuchi asked.

"Meh... No reason. I just wanted to remember the name of the girly boy." Kasumi said as she gave a grin again. Ayame's eyes glinted.

"Oh my!" Ayame said as she was smiling. "Kasumi.. Do you liiiike~ him?" Ayame rolled her tongue at that one word specifically. Somewhere in an alternate dimension, a cute blue flying cat sneezed cutely.

"Eh?" Kasumi asked with a deadpan expression. "What do you mean nee chan?" Kasumi asked with confusion clearly evident on her face.

"*sigh* You'll get it when you're older... How about some ramen ne?" Ayame asked.

"Yup!" Kasumi exclaimed happily with her hand in the air. She was then waiting for her glorious ramen to arrive. But now she had another thought in her mind.

 _That girly boy didn't stare at me like everybody else... Naruto huh? I think that means fishcake._

* * *

"Achoo" Naruto sneezed while he was walking back. "Who the hell would be talking about me?" Naruto thought out loud. He then saw a couple of civilians huddled up together. He could sense something weird about them.

'I know that scene all too well.'

Usually when he saw civilians huddled up and keeping a hush-hush manner he knew they were planning something. Most of the time it would include them berating him and his family. He deeply _hated_ this and he would be damned before he let these worthless bags of flesh and blood do something about it. Luckily for him, he had some gear with him. Including an extra crow mask that belonged to Shisui. He henged himself to look like an ANBU and put on the crow mask. Thankfully he was suppressing his chakra to a near civilian level.

'Whatever you bastards are planning... I am not letting you get away with it.'

Naruto scanned the area for any other ANBU. To his surprise there weren't any around. ANBU Black Ops should be stationed. He then sensed a large amount of them being gathered at the Hyuuga Compound. Two other were also fighting judging by the signatures. Some Kumo delegates had arrived today and this shit went down. Of all days.

* * *

He silently followed the crowd while jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Some of them had stones in their hands. He was a bit surprised to say the least. When they used to... say those things to him and his family they never even once thought about getting physical in their beratings... Everybody knows... You cross an Uchiha you die. Main clan member or not. Long before Naruto knew it he was in the Red Light District. It was a bit of a run down and probably the least cheap place to live. It also was the spot for drunkards and thieves. Thankfully there were no rapists around anymore... Ever since he heard rumors from Shisui about some snake lady or something like that. Seeing the spot the action was about to take place, Naruto was going to turn around but something caught his eye.

A walking set of familiar neon orange. On top of it... a mop of blonde hair with some red in it.

 _What is she doing here? Oh right... Why is the crowd moving after her?!_

The mob of 8 people silently made their way following Kasumi. Then one of them threw the rock at her. It hit her arm quite violently as she dropped a fox mask. Naruto enraged immediately activated his Sharingan.

 _How dare they?! To hit a child like that._ His gaze turned towards Kasumi and he gasped. _What in Kami's name?!_

Naruto was staring wide eyed. Her chakra network's level were off the charts. It was ridiculous. Even Shisui and Itachi didn't that much chakra! It was way too much for anyone. He decided to move in and act but the next words of the villagers froze him in his steps.

"Take that demon!"

"Yeah!"

"Hit her some more?!"

"Why *sniff* did you *sniff* do that?" Kasumi asked while she was crying. Those violet orbs showed so much hurt as she clutched her arm in pain. Some people in the mob actually stopped their rant.

Nauto felt as if someone stabbed him with a kunai right there and then. Why did it hurt so much? Was it because she was an orphan like him? Or was it because the villagers had ganged up on seven year old girl like that?

"Because you're a demon!"

"You killed our families all those years ago!"

"What are you talking about?! I never did anything to anyone!" The girl was openly crying now.

 _Because you're a demon... You killed our families all those years ago... Wait... That much chakra...in her... Don't tell me... Yondaime... Why would you do this to her?_

"Shuuutt up you demon!" The leader yelled as a mad look came to life on his face. He picked up another stone and was aiming that for her head. He threw it but it got deflected by another rock.

"Who did that?!"

"Who dared to save the demon?!"

"I did it... Zasshu."

A cold voice was heard by everyone. They looked for the source. They were a bit worried because of the way the last word was uttered.

"What's wrong? Speak up." The voice was resounding from everywhere.

"Hey! Someone go get a chunnin! They can-"

"Yes!" The voice said once more. "Get a chunnin. That way I can find out who else is going to hurt this little girl."

The leader then felt a cold sharp metal being pressed onto his neck. Everybody else gasped.

There standing before them was an ANBU Black Op. Ruthless killers all of them. They were the elite ninjas of the village who dealt in assassinations. What was one of them doing here? They were visibly shaking as concentrated amount of killer intent hit them. One of them had peed.

"Tell me you bastard." the ANBU with the Crow mask spoke. "Do you wish to die?"

"No sir have merc-" The man didn't get to finish as he felt the metal being pressed even more as a small trickle of blood flowed from his neck.

"Do you know what I am?" The captive nodded. "Good... Then you know that I can kill all of you worthless civilians without even trying. If the Hokage asks, I'll tell him the truth that you insignificant specks of flesh were abusing a harmless girl. Then your entire family gets what's coming to them... Do you want that... bastard?"

"No sir!"

"Please let us go!"

The ANBU retracted his kunai from the man's throat and reappeared in front of the leader. He punched him in the gut and proceeded to beat the rest of the civilians.

"You civilians don't have any control over this situation so don't even think about going to that circus sideshow of freaks that you call a council. I am an ANBU Black Op. I only answer to the Hokage and no one else. If I gut every single one of you and make your bodies disappear no one will give a damn. " He was then placing them under a genjutsu. One that would change their minds on this. "Make sure I never see you or any of you lackeys including the ones not here hurt or bother this girl ever again. Otherwise one of two things will happen. One: You die and I hang your bodies over the Hokage Monument to show you why this is a shinobi village. Or two: I keep you alive in an undisclosed location and you will be begging to be taken to T&I. Am I clear?" The man finished.

They all nodded and were frozen still at the man's proclamation. He was right. ANBU Black Ops were untouchable. If the Civilian Council even thought about raising this, they'd be kicked out before you know it or worse. After a few more moments he hissed at them and they all ran away.

Crow then looked at Kasumi. She was still crying. Puffy eyes.

"Go to your home." The man said with an final tone.

"O-okay." The girl got up and was walking away. She turned around once more. A small smile made it's way across her face. "Thank you."

She ran away into the distance. Her figure was shrinking until it disappeared.

Naruto felt strange and he looked around. He dropped the henge. He looked confused.

 _Her smile...It was so..._

His attention then went to the mask that was still on the ground. He could feel her signature and decided to go after her. He followed her signature to her apartment. The whole building was quite old. He went to her door or he assumed this was hers.

He was hesitant. His pulse was racing.

 _Just give her the mask. Naruto. You can do it. Hell you were going to kill that civilian few minutes ago... Wait what?_

Shrugging those thoughts aside he knocked on her door. He knocked once more and then the door opened.

Kasumi came and she was wearing a white t shirt with the Uzumaki swirl in the front and black pajamas. Her eyes were still puffy.

"Hey! It's you!" She exclaimed with some nervousness in her voice. She then noticed the boy raised her hand and she backed off a little.

"You dropped this." Naruto said as he handed her the fox mask. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring the ANBU earlier."

"You brought the crow guy?!' She asked with a monotone voice. "Why?"

"Well for one the villagers shouldn't bully anyone like that." He said in an angry tone. "Also because ... Well you're kind of like me."

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.

"Well I don't have any parents either." Naruto said and Kasumi looked down.

"Oh... I'm sorry" Kasumi was going to say something more but Naruto spoke first.

"What for? It's not your fault." Kasumi looked up and then Naruto was looking at her eyes.

Cerulean pools stared into the violet orbs.

It took some time to realize what both of them were doing and then they both blushed while looking away.

"Sorry" both muttered at the same time. Naruto smiled lightly and Kasumi grinned.

"You look better that way. When you smile." Naruto blurted out and then put his hands on his mouth. _Stupid Naruto! Why would you say that?!_

Kasumi blushed once more. This was the nicest thing anyone other than Hokage jiji or the father daughter duo at Ichiraku's said to her.

"It's okay" She said as she looked down hard at the floor as if she was trying to melt it. "Thanks. For bringing the crow guy and my mask."

"It's okay," Naruto said who was still nervous after his previous blunder. "Anyways see you later. Oh right I never asked your name. My name is Naruto."

"My name is Kasumi. The next future Hokage-ttbayo!" She exclaimed happily.

"Okay then Kasumi... See you around." Naruto waved a goodbye and left.

"Bye!" Kasumi waved as well and she closed the door.

* * *

Sometime later

Kasumi brought out a cup of instant ramen and put hot water into it. She absolutely hated when you had to wait three minutes to wait for it. Her thoughts then went to the new acquaintance she made today.

"He was nice... for a girly looking boy." She thought with a smile. She cursed as she saw only one minute had passed.

* * *

"Dattebayo?" Naruto thought out loud. "Must be a verbal tic. It's kind of cute though... Dammit Mikoto obaa chan!" He could almost feel as if she was looking at him with a teasing grin. Again, he wasn't wrong.

Naruto had walked out of the Red Light District and made it all the way back to the Uchiha Compound. He went into his house and ate a few fruits.

* * *

A new day would start tomorrow for both of them. The beginning of their lives to become a shinobi.

As both of them went to their beds, they had a similar thought and smiled.

 _She/He has pretty eyes._

* * *

 **Phew ! So Harry met Sally ... I mean Naruto met Kasumi... Yayyyyy? I guess?... So...Finally stopped writing. Yes I know what you're thinking... Was it too cliche? Maybe... But it's my decision to make... I hope you guys liked this chapter. If so please leave a follow or a favorite. It'll be even better if you review. Please let me know what you guys think. Also I had some free time so I decided to write it and upload it today. Do not expect such a frequent update and hope that I get more chances like today. Till then take care Ja ne ;)**


	5. The Bonds That Shape Us

**Hey everyone Rifat here with the new chapter of the Uchiha Prodigy. Once again let's start off with the most important factor of the story. You. Yes you guys who read it. You maybe thinking that I do this in every chapter and I am brown nosing. I assure you I am not. You guys actually like the story to the point it makes me write more and from the great feedback of reviews that I have received I can honestly say that I am proud of this fic. Another thing I would like to point out is that I want to go to the canon story as soon as possible. So there might be two to three time skips in this chapter alone. Also some of you may not like the story from this point on. So without wasting any time, let's get on with the story.**

 **Naruto: Wait!**

 **Rifat: What is it Naruto?**

 **Naruto: Well you see I was reading the reviews and...**

 **Rifat: And?**

 **Naruto: Well one of them asked whether you're a guy or a girl.**

 **Rifat: Well Rifat is a name that can be used for both sexes. But to answer the question to the review. I am a guy. As in one Y chromosome, one X chromosome, two balls and a fully functional dick.**

 **Naruto: You really didn't need to say it like that...**

 **Rifat: It's a fucking fanfiction rated M and even better this is the internet I can say and do whatever I want.**

 **Naruto: I don't think you can do-**

 **Rifat: For example I think Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is overrated and that Gintama is not that funny**

 **Naruto: You really shouldn-**

 **Rifat: And My Little Pony is nothing but a sack of-**

 ***ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTERFERENCE***

 **AI: You do not f*** with My Little Pony**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA, STUDIO PERRIOT AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound

Naruto yawned. He slowly got up and sat in bliss. He felt annoyed.

"Today is the day we start that Academy." Naruto yawned once more. "Well at least things will be interesting from here on now."

Naruto got up and looked at the clock. It was 8:35 AM

The Academy Induction started at 8:15 AM.

"Oh shit..."

Then in an epic montage of heck and rush, Naruto took a shower and changed his clothes. He was wearing a full sleeved high collared black shirt with the Uchiha Crest on his back. He work dark blue pants and was munching on two pieces of bread while he was running to the Academy.

"Of all days for me to sleep in... It had to be today"

* * *

Konoha Academy.

 _'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why did I stop and help that old lady with the heavy groceries anyway?!'_

Thinking about what Naruto just said he sighed and realized the situation he was in a few minutes ago. There was no choice. It's what his brothers had done before and he ended up doing a few minutes ago. The true curse left by Genjuro Uchiha to his sons: Helping frail old grandmas with their shopping bags. Seriously what were they thinking while carrying those heavy bags?

Naruto neared the front gate of his class. Room 105. The sliding door would reveal the class in which he was about to stay for five years. Five years of absolute rubbish. He had half a mind to go to the Hokage's office and tell him about his progress with the fully matured Sharingan and whatnot. Then he remembered how Shisui wanted him to have a somewhat excuse of a normal childhood. Fat chance of that after witnessing your entire clan getting massacred by a person you consider your brother figure. Still, Naruto respected his late brother's wishes and would comply with them. He'd pretend to be an average _genin_.

 _'Even that word sounds wrong. A genin is nothing but an overhyped academy student with a headband.'_

Sighing once more, he closed his eyes. No matter what happens he'd have to hide his true strength. He could've sent a Shadow Clone, but did not know if there were going to be any spars today. If one hit was placed properly by the academy students as he would let his guard down, his entire cover up will be blown. If that happens, Naruto was sure that the person known as Danzo, so prominently mentioned in Shisui's scroll with a ridiculous amounts of details, try to make a move on Naruto. He slid the door open and immediately hated the choice he had made.

* * *

Room 105, Konoha Academy.

As the door had fully slid open, Naruto saw his designated chunnin teacher. The man was wearing the usual chunnin attire of black shirts, black pants and green flak vest. His hair was somewhat like a pineapple? (I don't know what his Iruka's hair looks like, if someone knows let me know) and had a scar running across his face, crossing his nose.

The chunnin instructor looked at Naruto with somewhat calculating eyes. The boy before him was somewhat taller than the rest and looked like as if he had run a literal mile to get here.

In reality, Naruto was sweating not from the run he had made, but from carrying the bags of Generic Old Lady#1. Seriously, how did they even get the bags out of the shops in the first place?

"I hope you have an explanation for why you are late young man." The chunnin instructor asked.

"Well sensei, you see." Naruto scratched his head and smile sheepishly while thinking what to say. Then he remembered the stories of his oldest brother Obito when he used to be a genin. "An old lady was carrying some heavy grocery bags and I helped her carry it to her home."

The chunnin instructor face faulted.

 _'Is this kid like a mini Kakashi or something? I hope he doesn't start wearing a mask.'_

* * *

Somewhere in Konoha.

An dog mask wearing ANBU Black Ops stopped dead in his tracks as he looked up at the sky.

"Can you feel it Obito? I think there is a kindred spirit somewhere."

"Senpai, is something wrong?" A cat masked wearing female ANBU asked the white haired dog mask wearing ANBU.

"Oh... You said something?" Inu asked with a lazy voice.

"... Nothing. Let's get to the Hokage's office quickly senpai." Neko replied with an irritated tone.

* * *

Room 105, Konoha Academy.

The entire class room was silent hearing his ridiculous excuse. Seriously who would believe something lik-

"Really?!"

A loud energetic voice broke the glass of awkward silence as Naruto looked towards the source of the voice. He felt a little glad when he saw the person. She was sitting alone at the far most corner of the desk. She was wearing a bright orange t shirt and dark beige pants. Her hair was still done in pig tails. The blonde smooth hair was there with the spicy wisps of red in between them. And of course, the violet eyes were gleaming with innocence. She was also smiling. Naruto let a ghost of a smile come on his face after seeing her.

 _'Man she's really cheerful.'_

Realizing he would be staring into her eyes again, he stopped and bowed his head a little in front of the chunnin instructor.

"Gomen sensei. It was the truth. I assure it will not happen again." Naruto raised his head and looked at the chunnin, whose face was somewhat satisfied after the proper apology.

"Okay. Make sure it doesn't happen next time. My name is Iruka Umino and I'll be one of your main instructors until you graduate." the man now known as Iruka stated before turning to the class. "Okay students. Since you've all had the chance to introduce yourselves I believe he deserves it as well. Please state your name before the class."

"Arigato Iruka sensei." Naruto said as he nodded towards the chunnin instructor and turned to face the students as he bowed his head a little. "My name is Naruto Uchiha. It's nice to meet you all."

Naruto then looked up and critically calculated all the students who caught his eyes.

First was a boy who also had pineapple like hair and had a lazy air about him. The next was a fat kid munching down on a bag of chips. A boy with red markings on his cheeks and a puppy on his head was sitting with a boy whose face was covered by the collar of his shirt, said boy was also sporting sunglasses. Then his eyes fell upon a white eyed girl with blue hair who was sitting with Kasumi. He had figured that these were the kids of the clan heads if their looks were anything to go with. Naruto guessed they were from the Nara, Akimichi, Inuzuka, and Hyuga clans. He then wondered where the Yamanaka clan heir was, since there was always a Yamanaka with a Nara and an Akimichi. Then he saw the familiar blonde platinum hair and green eyes, it was a girl. She was the Yamanaka heiress. She was sitting with a pink haired girl, whose forehead was a bit large for her frame. They were sitting just above the bench of a certain brooding, duck butt haired boy who was in a foul mood.

 _'I really should do something about that stick in his ass. *mental sigh*'_

Naruto then saw that the eyes of all the students were fixed upon him. Mentioning the Uchiha name immediately, he was getting those looks of pity again. His metaphorical fuse would've blown but he kept his neutral mask on his face. He saw that Iruka told him to go up and take the empty seat beside his fellow clansmen, Sasuke.

He walked up and sat besides Sasuke who was looking at Naruto with a light glare.

"How are you Sasuke san?" Naruto said. Over the years, Naruto had started calling him by that name since his fellow main house clansman made the difference between them clear.

"Why did you bow to that chunnin?" Sasuke asked.

"Well he is our sensei. I have to give someone the proper respect they deserve." Naruto was a bit annoyed but didn't show it.

"Hn." Sasuke gave the universal Uchiha grunt and then Naruto's ear drum was shattered by two noises. One of them was a high pitched shriek and the other was the wailing of a dying banshee.

"Sasuke kun is so cool!" The pink one screeched.

"Sasuke kun looks so cute!" The Yamanaka heiress said with a loud voice.

Naruto sighed and sat down. He despised the way those two girls just acted. He noticed that a lot of the other civilian girls were also swooning over his fellow clansman. He swore he could've seen glowing hearts in their eyes, and he was pretty sure he did see hearts in the eyes of the pink haired one. Naruto put one of his fists onto his cheek supporting it.

 _'Fangirls... How pathetic. They shouldn't even be here if they have a mindset like that.'_

Naruto then saw that Kasumi and the Hyuga heiress were sitting just below his bench and Kasumi waved to him while giving a shameless grin.

"How are you Naruto?"

"Fine thank you for asking Kasumi." Naruto replied and noticed the strange looks he got from nearly all his classmates, the civilians in particular.

 _'Dear Kami... They're chibi versions of the idiotic villagers. I hope I can make it through the next 5 years without killing anyone.'_

* * *

2 Hours Later, Konoha Academy Spar Field, Konoha Academy.

 _'Kami if you're watching, why did you have to make me keep my promise to my brother? Yami, if you're watching... WHAT THE FUCK DUDE?!'_

Less than two hours had passed and Naruto had thought several times about just taking out a kunai and ending his own life right there. Seriously! They were just starting chakra theory in the first class and the spars were about to start now. Kasumi had been standing outside the class because she had planted powder in the teacher's desk which comically blew up in another white haired chunnin's face who threw her out of the class. Naruto had to questioned though, how did she get the powder in the desk in the first place?

Then came the shuriken and kunai practicing. It was absolutely horrid. Naruto actually had half a mind to take out a kunai and gut the new chunnin instructor. The white haired man had also did not teach Kasumi how to throw it properly. He noticed it through the corner of his eyes. But to his surprise she had landed exactly 5 kunai out of 10 and 9 shuriken out of 20. The entire class with the exception of Naruto, Hinata Hyuga and Sasuke who merely scoffed at her poor display.

Hinata was unlike most Hyuga. She did not have that air of arrogance around her and was genuinely kind, but she had some major confidence issues. She was the only person in the Academy besides Naruto who actually liked Kasumi and understood that she never had any particular training before. Naruto had played the farce of being an inferior Uchiha and to help lift up his... friend's mood, he intentionally threw less than half attempted kunai and shuriken. Even after that he had landed, 6 kunai and 13 shuriken. He sighed and had a annoyed look on his face. But a soft 'nudge' from Kasumi changed his mood, despite the fact that the 'nudge' had knocked him off balance. He mentally noted that she had a lot more upper body strength despite her slightly chubby appearance.

Now came the spars. As usual, the clan heirs were pitted against the civilians which had resulted in the obvious conclusions. Now it was Sasuke's turn only he was up against Kasumi. Naruto was visibly pissed at this match. Sasuke, despite being an arrogant ass, was still clan trained despite the short amount of time he got and he would no doubt beat Kasumi. But it was Kasumi's last name that snatched away Naruto's attention.

Kasumi Uzumaki.

 _'If she really is an Uzumaki... Why is she living in the Red Light District? How is the Hokage even allowing someone from their clan to live in such a situation? It's insulting. You wear their symbols on the back of your jackets, but you treat them like scum because she is jailing the thing that could destroy you if left unchecked. I wonder if Itachi's sacrifice was worth all this.'_

The spar between Sasuke and Kasumi had started. It went exactly the way Naruto predicted it. Sasuke countered every move that Kasumi threw his way. She did not have any specific fighting style and was a pure brawler. Sasuke was using the imperfect version of the Uchiha Interceptor Fist. Long story short, Kasumi fell on her back and the goggles that were on top of her head were broken. Though Sasuke's hand did get a bit cut up from breaking the goggles.

"You... dobe." Sasuke said as the class laughed at the name he had given to Kasumi who was tearing up after seeing her goggles broken.

Kasumi didn't say anything and secluded herself to a tree but not before she was picking up whatever was left of her goggles.

Naruto felt stricken after he saw her tearing up. He didn't know why he felt so bad. A sharp pang of pain is what he felt when he saw tears forming at the edge of her eyes. He wanted to go and talk to her, but his name was called up and he saw that he would be pitted against a civilian boy.

Naruto tried hiding his skills to the best he could and beat the boy after three painful minutes of delaying the inevitable. He didn't even wait for the chunnin instructor's announcement as he went to the spot where Kasumi was last standing. She was gone.

He went back to the classroom and waited but there was still no sign of her. The day of the classes ended and he decided he'd go to look for his friend. But delay came in the form of Sasuke.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked as he was in his Emo Mode.

"Nowhere. Just around." Naruto said in a stoic voice. Whenever he talked that way Sasuke would be a bit pissed.

"You're going to look for the dobe, aren't you?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke san," Naruto looked at him dead in the eyes, "you really shouldn't belittle people like that."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and continued. "I am from the Main House of the Uchiha Clan. Why should I treat a no named clanless loser with any form of respect?"

Naruto didn't say anything and walked away. Unknown to most, Naruto had even activated his Sharingan out of rage at the last statement. Did he really not hear about the Uzumaki Clan?

"I will see you later at the compound Sasuke san." Naruto said and left. But then he remembered that Kasumi was crying because her goggles were broken. Naruto's head then had a shining bulb on top of it as he rushed back home. He had just the thing.

* * *

Kasumi's House, Red Light District, Konoha.

"DAMN IT!"

The irritated yell of Kasumi came as her hair flew up.

"Goggles! If you don't get attached this time I will break you up permanently!" Kasumi yelled before she tried for the umpteenth time to join the goggles with some glue. It was no use. It kept falling apart.

She threw it in the bin and was lying down on her bed now. The goggles were a gift she got from Ayame two years ago. It was given to her on her birthday on October 10th. It was one of her most precious gifts, especially more important considering that the orphanage had kicked her out. She was silently shedding tears now.

 _'I'm sorry Ayame nee chan.'_

She was broken out of her thoughts when a knock came on her door. She rubbed her eyes a bit and answered her door. She opened it and saw that Naruto was there. He had a stoic look on his face. That was strange for her because, she liked it when he smiled.

"Umm." Naruto started saying, "I looked for you after my spar. Why didn't you finish the rest of the classes?"

"..." Kasumi remained quiet for a few moments before speaking. "Those goggles were special to me. Ayame nee chan gave them to me as a gift. Now they're broken. I just didn't feel like-" Kasumi whimpered as she said this as tears threatened to drop from her eyes.

Naruto sighed. He did not like this at all. Normally, in the two short days he had known her, she was a ball of energy and a cheerful one at that.

"Actually I'm here about that." Naruto said as he had a brown packet in his hands.

"What do you mean by that?" Kasumi said with her eyes squinting. She saw the bag in his hands and wondered what was in it.

"Well I..." Naruto projected off into his thoughts. "Well I thought you like goggles so I got you this. But it looks it was a gift and gifts can never be replac-"

"Wait! What's in the bag?" Kasumi asked excitedly.

"Well it's..." Naruto shrugged. _'Should I give her this?'_

"What's in the bag-ttebayo?!" Kasumi nearly yelled as her eyes were gleaming again.

"Here." Naruto stretched his arm and held out the brown bag. "See for yourself."

Kasumi took the bag and ripped it open. Naruto sweat dropped.

 _'She could've just opened it normally. Way too hyperactive.'_

"WOAH!" Kasumi said as her excitement reached new heights.

She was holding a pair of goggles with orange lenses. It didn't seem brand new but it also looked like it was well taken care of. It had a single rim.

"Where did you get this from?!" Kasumi asked and saw that Naruto looked down.

"It used to belong to my eldest brother." Naruto said and Kasumi noticed that he said 'used to'. "He had some problems with his eyes so he wore goggles. This is one of the extra two pairs he had. He died in the Third Great Ninja War. During the Battle of the Kannabi Bridge."

Kasumi felt bad that she had brought this question up. She herself never had any parents and to some extent understood that he was like her.

"I'm sorry." Kasumi said in a low voice. "You can take this back if you want."

"It's alright. Besides, it's not your fault." Naruto said. "I want you to keep the goggles. From what little I've known about him, he was a lot like you. So I request you take good care of it. Also, make sure you take it off the next time you fight someone."

"Okay." Kasumi said as she smiled again. "Hey do you want to come in? I've got some instant ramen we could eat!" Kasumi had stars in her eyes again at the mention of her food.

"Maybe some other time Kasumi." Naruto then spoke once more. "You should also eat something other than ramen. Otherwise you're going to be short forever." Naruto said with a light smirk.

"HAAAAH!" Kasumi gasped in shock. "How can you say that-ttebayo?! Ramen is the food of the gods! Nothing else comes close!" Kasumi **stated.**

"Ramen maybe tasty but it's not the best food for growth. Besides, if there is a food for gods... It's pocky." Naruto retorted. _Please ramen doesn't even begin to compare to pocky. Even Shisui nii knew that. Of course, Itachi nii liked dango more for some reason._

"NO IT'S NOT!" Kasumi yelled. "It's ramen! Pocky is kind of weird." Kasumi shuddered at the thought of her happily eating pocky.

"Hn" Naruto reluctantly gave the grunt. "Ramen is nothing compared to-"

Naruto didn't get to finish that sentence as he saw her hair suddenly flying up? Wait? Why was he afraid?

"You were saying?" Kasumi asked with a sweet smile as she tightly clenched her fist and the nerves on her closed fist could be seen pulsating.

"I-I-I w-was saying that ramen is a really good food!" Naruto stuttered. _I just saw my life flashing before my eyes. How did she do that?!_

"Oh anyways...I was going to ask you if you want to train sometime together. Do you want to?" Naruto asked. He had already planned to send a reinforced clone to the Academy after watching today's _performance._ There was absolutely no reason for him to go to the Academy after observing today's events. Except maybe helping Kasumi. He had to admit there was something about her that made him feel genuinely drawn to her.

"Ummm" Kasumi looked down before answering again. "Arigato Naruto. But I want to train on my own. I want to get stronger by myself. Besides you're an Uchiha. Why would you-"

"What do you mean by that? Just because I'm an Uchiha doesn't mean that I'm like them" Naruto stated. He felt weird having this conversation.

 _'Does she look at me like I'm just a person from the Uchiha Clan?'_

"No it's not that. It's just." Kasumi stopped and looked at Naruto again. With those same eyes. The ones filled with pity. "I know that you're kind of like me and you're much nicer than everybody else. But why would you train with a nobody like me? I am an orphan. You're from a clan. The Uchiha Clan. It's wrong. I don't want your help. I don't need your help." Kasumi, for pure hearted as she was, was a complete idiot when it came to expressing her mind.

 _I don't want your help._

 _I don't need your help._

 _You're from a clan._

 _The Uchiha Clan._

"So that's the reason, huh?" Naruto asked in a cold voice. His eyes were shadowed by his bangs. _So she also sees just an Uchiha when she looks at me._

Kasumi felt a bit scared if she was to be honest. In the two days she had known him, he was never this cold. He was polite. Why did he become so cold all of a sudden?

"Okay then Kasumi. I'll leave you to it." Naruto said it in a cold and unflinching voice and walked away. He felt like scum for talking to her like that. But she had done the one thing he had not expected her to do.

 _What is she thinking? She has no one to help her and she thinks she can make it through the Academy? Because of her large chakra reserves, I doubt she'll ever be able to make a normal clone without proper control. And I seriously doubt the Academy is going to teach us anything about chakra control. Tch. Just when I thought I had a friend._

What Naruto didn't realize was that Kasumi had called him but he was lost in his thoughts. He couldn't even feel the single tear that dropped from his eye and rolled down his cheek.

 _Okay Kasumi. If you want to be on your own, you win. I thought you'd be someone who didn't look at me like I was an 'Uchiha'. It was stupid of me to think that I could have a normal friend. Dammit! Why am I even thinking about her?! I've only known her for two days! Maybe I should get Obito nii's goggles back... No I have another set at home. I hope for your sake you get stronger, Kasumi. It's better this way. Now I can fully focus my attention on training. Good luck Kasumi._

Kasumi was also stricken by what happened but she was too stubborn and adamant in her decisions. She gripped the goggles with all her might and made a promise.

 _I'll show you how strong I can get Naruto. I want to get stronger on my own._ Kasumi thought as she gripped the goggles tighter not knowing what she had done.

(AN: For those who are thinking that Naruto is overreacting, he has been looked down upon by the village his entire life. The people look at him with pity or a chance to gain power. This is the first time he had a friend. Now that he was shot down, his turmoil emotions he's keeping bottled up has taken the better of him. I hope this helps.)

The next day the Academy resumed once more and Kasumi tried to talk to Naruto who simply looked at her with stoic look and uncaring eyes. He seemed so different. He sat alone. Even Sasuke would sit with someone during the classes. One of the girls tried to sit with Naruto once he adopted the gloom and doom look, but was quickly shut off when Naruto told her to leave with a glare that scared her half to death. Kasumi was still too stubborn to apologize, however she felt a pang of pain when Naruto had ignored her.

Naruto did not even bother about anyone else anymore. His Sharingan had become sharper for some reason. His vision seemed more clear than before. He had sent Shadow Clone to the Academy with a reinforced seal that was clearly written out by Shisui. His clone would be able to take a maximum of five great hits before dispelling and judging by what he saw he knew there was no point in worrying. Besides, he'd make a new clone everyday. He was training to drop dead from now on.

The clone had come and he dispelled to get the memories transferred to the original. He felt bad that he had outright ignored Kasumi but she had also not made any progress in their friendship and Naruto assumed that she had decided to forget about him. For some reason he felt like he should've been killed by Itachi during that night.

Little did he know.

* * *

Six Years Later.

Naruto now stands at 5'5 and has gotten a lean athletic build over the years. In accordance to his brother's wishes, he has kept his abilities hidden and stuck to his advice of hiding his abilites. It worked. The ANBU that used to scout the Compound had stopped coming there after two years into the Academy but he still kept his guard up. Naruto did not trust anyone and became an 'Uchiha'. Ever since that conversation with Kasumi, he had become cold and distant. He barely ever talked to people. When the civilians would try to talk to him he would give them a glare and walk away. Right now he was considered an above average student. Right now he is sitting in the classroom.

He is wearing black ANBU style pants with tapes around his knees, open toed blue shinobi sandals. He is wearing a blue short sleeved shirt with a grey-blue jacket on top of it, it has a black collar and a black horizontal line across the chest part and the wrists. The jacket also has the Uchiha Crest on the back. He has bought a tanto but left it at home knowing he won't need it today. His spiky hair has been cut shorter with some of it coming coming over his forehead. His eyes however had lost that brighter shade of blue it previously had. (In short look at the cover picture of the story). Today is the day, he 'graduates' from the Academy.

Naruto has trained himself to a perfect, elite jounin level ninja. He is sure that he could take on a few ANBU and come out the victor. Often times, he had trained so hard he would be lying in the Stone Tablet Chamber. He would wait for his large chakra reserves to slowly heal him. Against his better decisions, he decided to use the Mangekyou Sharingan and discovered one of his abilities. He had the unholy flames of Amaterasu. In addition to that his fire, wind, lightning even water jutsu have improved over a large scale. His shunshin is now similar to Shisui. He had even snuck out of the village on three occasions. He had gone once gone to simply explore the land and learn the area around it. He had happened upon a group of bandits. They were his first kills. He had to take a sick leave from the Academy to mentally recover.

After that he had done the same thing and the last time he had gone and killed two hunter nin. He was slowly beginning to resent the village for dimming his potential. He also thought about how they betrayed his clan. But then again, his love for his family had bound him to this village. It would be an insult to every deceased member of his family. He also needed to get his eyes transplanted. But he didn't trust anyone so he still kept his mother's eyes with him.

There only a few people he cared about. The Hokage because he was the Hokage. The old man gave a damn about him and came to visit him often times. But now Naruto had changed. If he ever did talk, he would refer to them by their last names with honorifics. With the exception of Sasuke who had grown up to become a pompous brat, waited hand and foot by the Civilian Council. They had tried to goad Naruto in as well but a well placed glare had shot down their chances. As for the rest of the genin, Naruto was apathetic about them. He knew that most of the civilians save Sakura Haruno, who had her booksmart ability but that was it, would be retracted from the Shinobi Program. The Clan heirs and heiresses, in his opinion were weak. None of them could defeat him if he was 11 right now, even with their clan jutsu. The only ones who had a silver of a chance against Naruto were Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto would not deny it Sasuke was naturally talented and was far beyond genin level as he is now. If he were to awaken his Sharingan, he would undoubtedly be low chunnin. However, if he lets his arrogance and vengeful drive get the better of him, his progress will be greatly hindered. Well hindered even more, since Naruto knew that if he were to fight Sasuke to the death, Sasuke would be dead without Naruto using his Sharingan.

Shikamaru was a bit like him. He hid his true potential. Well, more like did not want to reach his true potential. He had the same disease every Nara had. Laziness. He was smart though, Naruto observed that he would always start the written exams when there was less than half the time and still finish properly.

Then came the one person Naruto was conflicted about.

Kasumi Uzumaki.

Over the years, Naruto tried very hard to forget about their friendship. He kept telling himself that he only knew her for nearly two days. That she also looked at him as if he was just an 'Uchiha'. He could not. She was starting to become a regret that Naruto hid deep inside. His clone would dispel and he would receive the knowledge. In every single memory transfer, he saw that Kasumi tried to talk to him but he would brush her off kindly. He even called her "Uzumaki san" now. He felt like scum when he remembers the look in her eyes. But it was for the better. As soon as he stopped trying to interact with her, she started to become a bit more serious. Even with no teachers and no proper textbooks, she had made it this fur.

he had improved and was no longer the dead last, she was considered an average student. She sometimes looks at Naruto with her regret filled violet eyes but doesn't have the courage to speak to him. She is a proud kunoichi in the making, but could use some serious help in the chakra control department.

As for her looks. Well. She wears a dark orange jumpsuit which has some black in it. She is also wearing dark orange pants. She is wearing Obito's goggles over her forehead. Years ago,some of the boys had teased her and called her an orange tomato because of the red streaks in her hair which were now a bit more prominent. Add that to her bubbly face, she does look a bit like that. But this resulted in something else, something that Naruto had experienced. She got angry and beat the living hell out of the boys who teased her. She became known as the Orange Menace, because of her pure rage induced beatdowns and well executed pranks all over the village.

 _How did she paint the Hokage Monument in broad daylight?_

That is one of the mysteries that can never be solved. Naruto guessed that she is much more talented than stealth he gives her credit for.

Now Kasumi has physically changed after five years. She has grown up to be a teenage throb. Her creamy skin, smooth blonde hair with streaks of red and deep violet eyes make her look like an exotic beauty that many of the girls were jealous of. She had also never worn makeup once in her life. Her pink lips were full as well. She had a much more developed figure than the other girls much to their ire, with the exception of Hinata who wore a baggy coat to hide it. Her chest easily low C cup. Her hips were also a bit wider. Some of the boys often tried to ask her out but got rejected and literally knocked out in some other cases.

Kiba Inuzuka often annoyed her for a date and would've been more annoying, had he not had an older sister and terrifying mother. Naruto had accidentally drawn a kunai out once when he saw Kiba talking about how he was an Alpha and trying to flirt with Kasumi, saying that she is playing hard to get. He would also mention some offhanded comments about her becoming the future matriarch of the Inuzuka Clan.

Naruto had to admit though. Kasumi growing up to be a beautiful teen did not help resolve the conflict he had about her. He was looking at her again and sighed. The fact that she had become the most prettiest girl he had ever seen in his mind, made him question whether he looked at her as just a friend or perhaps something more. He sighed once more as he swore in his mind he heard Mikoto obaa chan giggling somewhere.

Unknowingly, Kasumi also turned around and their eyes met. Naruto's blue eyes held conflict, sadness and most of all regret. Kasumi's eyes were looking at him with some hope, warmth and regret as well. They both looked away and some of the boys along with Kiba were jealously glaring at him.

The kunai and shuriken exam ended, with Sasuke getting 9/10; 18/20, Naruto getting 7/10; 15/20 and Kasumi getting 5/10; 12/20. The written exams was taken and Kasumi had barely managed to pass. Now came the Academy Three. Most of the students were going and performing the Final Exam. Sasuke went ahead and performed the basic three flawlessly. Naruto was wondering whether Kasumi could pass or not. That girl had absolutely no control over her chakra. Naruto's name was called and he started to go forward. Some of the fan girls cheered, some of the boys got angry and Sasuke scoffed, but one small voice reached Naruto's ear.

"Good luck, Naruto."

He hesitated for a single second. He knew exactly who that voice belonged to. He wanted to turn around and say thanks. But he was in deep conflict and just moved forward.

"Okay Naruto please perform the Academy Three." Iruka Amano said.

Naruto started with the Clone Jutsu. A perfect imitation of Naruto appeared beside him. He then performed the Henge and transformed into Shisui in his jounin outfit. Some of the students were looking at him awkwardly, Sasuke seemed to be angry for some reason. Kasumi was observing the henge with a calculating look. Then, seeing that only one person was left, Naruto performed the kawarimi with Kasumi and she was standing in the exam circle. She had a vein throbbing in her head. How dare he put her against the wall just like that? She wanted to yell and hit him on the head. But seeing his once bright blue eyes now dull, she hesitated and stopped.

 _'Where did the Naruto I know go?'_

Naruto went ahead and picked up his headband and tied it around his forehead. He was walking by and stopped for a single second. He looked at Kasumi. A million questions raced through his head. He wanted to ask her how she was, how her training was going, if she eats anything other than ramen. But he realized about he treated her all these years and felt that he was not worthy of such actions. So he decided on the next best thing. For a fraction of a moment, when Kasumi's violet orbs looked at her once friend she saw a lighter shade in the now dull blue eyes.

"Good luck.. Uzumaki san."

Kasumi gave a thousand watt smile. No way she was going to fail the exams now. She had a chance. A chance to gain back her friend. This was the first time in years he willingly spoke to her. She had something to prove.

Naruto sat down on one of the benches. He was waiting for what was coming next. However after willingly speaking to her after five years, a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. A feeling surged throughout his body for a moment. He had forgotten this feeling. He closed his eyes and snapped them wide open to see if the prediction he made was correct.

It was...

* * *

 **AAAAANNNNDD CUT... YAY CLIFFHANGER. So I know most of you are gonna be pissed that I turned Naruto into a typical Uchiha. But it is required for the plot. Come on he is an Uchiha and you don't expect him to be a tainted by his own blood once. Sorry, the world isn't perfect. But don't worry there is a perfect reason as to why the story is going at this pace. Remember how I said he would struggle with the Curse Of Hate... That's all I'm saying for now. If you like the chapter please leave a follow or favorite. Also make sure you review. That is the fuel on which my fiction truck runs on. Take care people Ja ne!**


	6. A Feeling All Too Familiar

**Sup everyone. Rifat here back with the new chapter. As always thank you for your continuing support and warm feedbacks. With that said I am not going to apologize for the last chapter's cliff hanger. Nope not going to do that. Absolutely not. But I have been bombarded with questions ever since the last chapter got updated. So no. There will not be many changes in this fic with the canon arc. Why you ask? Simple. It will be very hard to do. At least for me. Let's be honest I am not even close to the good writers out there on . The one that I think is the best is KitsuneDragon. Go and take a look on his page. It'll be worth it, his fanfic Dragonslayer is what basically inspired me to take up fanfic. But enough about that. Let's go on with this chapter. It should clear up some questions you have. Also, some of you may hate me for a particular scene in this chapter. You are completely allowed to hate me. Except you KameKageRyuu you're a DICK. Well please read the new chapter.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA, STUDIO PERRIOT AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Konoha Academy, Konohagakure no Sato.

It was going exactly the way Naruto Uchiha had predicted. Kasumi had first performed the Henge and turned into an older version of herself. The fact that her body seemed more womanly only made her fanboys scream in joy. Kiba literally howled and had a nosebleed. Even the normally stoic Sasuke Uchiha, had a strange look on his face. Iruka smile at seeing her perfect henge, the white haired Mizuki however had a devious look on his face. Naruto on the other hand blushed hard and looked away at the window.

'Fucking hormones.' Needless to say, Naruto was still coming to terms with the fact as to whether he saw Kasumi as just a friend or not.

Kasumi had turned around while in the henge and looked at Naruto who had looked away and Kasumi looked sad. The boys in the room had started glaring daggers at Naruto with Kiba being the prime of them. Why did Kasumi care about a guy who just ignores her? Kiba in particular did not like the boy. He had a crush on Kasumi ever since her growth spurt hit. Sasuke merely observed the reactions of the two. He felt annoyed for some reason.

Naruto was still looking away knowing that Kasumi had not dropped the henge. He heard the poof of a smoke and saw that Kasumi was back to her normal appearance, albeit looking a bit sad. Naruto felt that hollow feeling again. He sighed in frustration at himself. He then saw Kasumi perform a kawarimi with Iruka and then finally came the part even Naruto was dreading for her.

"Okay Kasumi. All that's left is for you to perform the Bunshin?"

Naruto closed his eyes. He silently prayed to whatever higher form of a divine being that was out there. How many years has it been since he prayed to Kami? He doesn't remember. Ever since his mother died, he simply stopped caring. When he was at the shrine he would put up the farce that he was praying for the deceased Uchiha Clan. He resented the fact that a divine deity like Kami had decided to fuck with his life and take away everything from him. But why was he praying now? Kasumi had rejected his help in training, and Naruto over the years realized that it was her pride as a growing kunoichi that made her do it. He overreacted all those years ago, now he could think this as his mind became more cold and rational. He had rejected her friendship and she tried to be friends with him. But he had shot her chances down. Would she still be friends with him if he apologized?

'Please Kami. This is the only thing I want from you right now. Please make her pass.'

Kasumi winced in fear. The bunshin was the one thing she had absolutely no control over. She had never successfully made one. But for some reason instincts took over.

She turned around to see her once friend. He had his eyes closed. She wanted to see his eyes. She wanted to know if there was still some part of him that considered her a friend. She had realized her silly mistake over the years. She learned from the Ichirakus that Naruto was in a sense similar to her. He was also glared at and berated for the majority of his life. It wasn't until that his entire clan had been wiped out that people started to look at him 'normally'. She realized that like him, she must've been his first friend. After that she tried to speak with him, but the old Naruto was gone. He called her Uzumaki san. Words could not describe how hurt she felt when he spoke in an emotionless voice to her.

She vowed that she would become stronger and then one day make sure he becomes her friend again. But over the last year she started to look at Naruto differently. He was... cute in her eyes. She had accidentally blurted that out in front of Ayame who teased her to no end about it. She had also learned about the birds and the bees from her. She had also began questioning her own friendship with the raven haired enigma and then suddenly his eyes opened.

Blue eyes met violet orbs. For a moment they just stared into each other's eyes. Time itself stood still. Until a whine from some stupid fucking fanboys ruined the moment. They were glaring daggers at Naruto for grabbing Kasumi's attention. Seriously what is up with them? Naruto always politely brushes her off and she still looks at Naruto more than any other boy. Kiba was muttering something about dog food. Naruto was beginning to realize the awkwardness of the situation and did the one thing Kasumi did not expect.

He nodded towards her.

Kasumi felt heat rushing to her cheeks. Naruto had interacted with her once again. She nodded and grinned at Naruto and turned to face Iruka and Mizuki. She performed the ram sign. She could not fail. She would make her friend acknowledge her. Her path to Hokage would begin now.

Then a poof of smoke appeared beside Kasumi. A ghost of a clone appeared beside Kasumi, the clone was pale white and looked like it was dying.

Kasumi Uzumaki had failed to pass the genin exam. She was tearing up. Then the words from Iruka's mouth made the gravity of the situation fall on her.

"Sorry Kasumi. You failed the exam. But-"

That was all Kasumi heard before she ran away. The tears had sprinkled into the air and glistened. Some of the girls laughed, some of the boys were a bit disappointed but a majority of them Kiba included thought now that she was a civilian she would be easier to get. Sasuke scoffed and thought that despite her looks, she was weakling. Hinata felt sad that her only friend from the Academy had failed. She knew how much this test meant to Kasumi. She now looked at Naruto. The boy was cold but not unkind, he was not arrogant like Sasuke but felt apathetic towards everyone. Or so she thought as she saw conflict in his eyes.

Naruto felt like he betrayed Kasumi. 'Dammit!' He mentally yelled as his legs twitched. Why did he turn his back on her? Sure she refused his help, but shouldn't he have tried to help her. At least give her a few pointers. He could have done that. He should have done that. He was broken from his thoughts as Iruka began a speech about their accomplishments on becoming genin. Naruto nearly scoffed at his declaration as his colder side began to emerge.

'Genin... Pft. Even that word sounds wrong.'

Iruka then told the class they were free and that the team placements would be announced two months later. Naruto sighed out of frustration. Another two months of useless waiting. Why did Itachi have to go and kill the clan again? Oh right. Naruto got up and some of his fan girls rushed over to him. Ino Yamanaka was among them. They were bothering him about a date. Naruto tried his best from keeping his metaphorical fuse from blowing simply apologized and said no. The civilians he could understand, but why was Ino, the heiress of the Yamanaka clan a fan girl? It made absolutely no sense. He'd have to do something about them soon. If he didn't he might just end up killing them.

* * *

Konoha Academy Field.

Naruto had started molding chakra and was trying to sense a large signature of chakra. It wasn't the Kyuubi's. He had seen the attempted hostile beating to understand that Kasumi was the Jinchuuriki. But her chakra in itself was dense. She probably had more chakra than the Third Hokage. This was the reason why she could not make a simple clone. Her chakra was even greater than Naruto's himself. Though he had far better control. He then found her sitting on a swing with tears rolling down her eyes. She was silently weeping. Naruto did not like this at all. He slowly made his way towards her and sat beside her on another swing. He was not sure what to say. He simply stared ahead and looked at the crowd of parents that had come up to take their children who had passed. They were proud of them. He saw Sasuke look at them with a look of indifference and annoyance. Naruto could understand what Sasuke felt right now. His own parents were killed by his brother. He was upset, he had the right to be angry but that does not mean he can look down upon other people.

"Looks like I failed huh?" A soft whimpering voice was heard on Naruto's ear. He looked at his side to see Kasumi still freely crying. Her bangs had covered her eyes.

"Yes." Naruto said. He had become too stoic much to his distaste. "But that doesn't mean it's over for you yet."

Kasumi looked up at her once friend. He wasn't even looking at her. He had that same damn expression on his face. One that was completely devoid of emotion. His eyes which seemed brighter a few moments ago in the classroom had dulled once again. But his words were not lost on her ears.

"What do you mean it's not over yet?" Kasumi asked. There was no way she was letting this chance go by.

"What I mean is... Academy students who fail the test are given a chance six months later once again. Although, they receive no help from the instructors at all. So it can be-"

"Will you help in training me?"

Those words caused Naruto to look at Kasumi with wide eyes. She had asked him for help. The chances he missed to help her... How she refused at first... Will he ignore her once again?

"I don't know." Naruto said as his face remained blank. "If I am going to be a genin, it means I will be very busy for the next few months. So there may not be a chance I can help you." Kasumi eyes looked down to the ground once more. Why would he help her she was a fail-

"However that does not mean I won't try to help you when I get the chance."

Kasumi looked at Naruto with wide eyes now. Naruto had said yes. He would help her when he gets the chance. This was what she had wanted for a long time. Then she grinned. Naruto simply looked at her with curiosity.

"Arigato Naruto!" Kasumi all but yelled. She got up and stood in front of him. "Just wait! With you training me I'll finish that exam in no time-ttebayo!"

Naruto could not help but lightly smile. Her bubbly and cheerful attitude was the perfect antithesis to his indifferent stoic visage. He looked at her once more.

"Maybe you will." Naruto said and got up and noticed she was still wearing the goggles. "Well I have to go then."

"Me too!" Kasumi said and she was the first to run off. She had accidentally left a piece of paper. It was her exam sheet. Naruto picked it up and was shocked.

There was a genjutsu placed on top of the paper. It was filled with much tougher questions. Questions that resembled the curriculum of the old Genin system.

"Did Kasumi pass a written exam of the old Genin curriculum?" Naruto asked himself out loud. This was absolutely against the rules set forth ever since Itachi murdered the Clan.

* * *

Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound.

Naruto was sitting and he was frustrated at the revelation he discovered today. Naruto had half a mind to go to the Hokage's office and tell Sarutobi about the incident today. Then he realized the old man would ask him how he knew how to detect genjutsu since he was considering an average student. Then he copied Shisui's handwriting and started filling up empty notebooks on ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. It was very basic but he unknowingly took more time and actually wrote down books in chakra theory as well, he also made additional scrolls for three fire jutsu, two wind jutsu and one for the shadow clone jutsu. All of the letters perfectly resembled Shisui's handwriting. He was rather proud of the notes he had written. Much better than the garbage that was used in the Academy. How had the standards dropped so low? He still asked himself that. Fully confident that he would not be suspected. He placed the books and scrolls in the shelf. He ran out of the house.

* * *

Red Light District.

Naruto then made his way over to the Hokage Tower. Since he was one of the three last members of the Uchiha Clan, he had certain privileges that most shinobi did not. He could meet with the Hokage any time he wants. But first, he'd have to get Kasumi first. She needed to know this and he was going to the Red Light District. He found Kasumi's apartment and was going to knock the door. But... he felt a different chakra signature. It was Mizuki.

He knocked on the door and no reply came. He then remembered the look Mizuki had on his face and kicked the door wide open. He rushed to the room and found Kasumi with a red mark on her cheek as the upper portion of her top was ripped apart. Mizuki had taken off his shirt and had placed his hand over Kasumi's mouth to avoid her from screaming. Naruto's mind snapped as he kicked Mizuki away who dropped a kunai on the bed as Kasumi violently panted. Naruto was going to kill Mizuki. No mercy. Mizuki was rushing towards Naruto once more and engaged him in taijutsu. He was getting beaten. He tried to reach for his back pack but Naruto appeared in front of it. He saw the kunai on the bed and grabbed it. He grabbed Kasumi and held her hostage as the kunai was pointed at her neck.

"Stop right there Uchiha! OR the demon bitch gets it!"

"Mizuki I'll give you exactly ten seconds to let her go. After that I will kill you." Naruto replied as he gritted his teeth.

"Why do you care what happens to the demon bitch?! I kill her I kill the Kyuubi! I'm doing us all a favor." Mizuki said this and Kasumi's eyes widened.

"What? What do you mean kill the Kyuubi?" Kasumi voiced out her question with a whimper.

"Don't you know you whore?!" Mizuki said it viciously. " The Yondaime never killed the Kyuubi. He sealed it into you. You are the Kyuubi no Yoko" Mizuki said and Kasumi's eyes lost whatever color they had.

"Mizuki." Naruto now activated his Sharingan. "You will die." Mizuki's body froze up at visual contact. He could not move. Suddenly Kasumi started screaming as she grabbed her head. Her eyes turned crimson with black slits. A bubbling layer of chakra coat engulfed her body. She felt despair, rage and she grabbed the kunai that had fallen from Mizuki's hand and rushed at him with the kunai. Naruto wanted to stop her, but decided against it. Why? This would be her first kill. It may break her mind, but if she was to be a kunoichi she would have to do it eventually.

*SQUELCH*

The kunai dug through Mizuki's bare chest. Kasumi immediately jumped away at what she had done. Mizuki was right. Her eyes were still had slits and then she looked at Naruto who had activated his Mangekyou and used a genjutsu.

* * *

Kasumi's Mindscape.

Kasumi found herself in a dark hallway. It was more like a sewer as the water on the floor suggested. The entire place was dimly lit. She noticed a cage with the word 'Seal' on it. Curiosity dragged her towards the gate as she saw two large crimson eyes appearing in the darkness of the cage. Then she saw fangs appear. A giant head of an dark orange colored fox appeared. The titanic body of the Kyuubi no Kitsune then came into view. All nine tails of the majestic bijuu were swaying around as he looked at Kasumi.

 **"So my jailer decides to grace me with her presence?"** The Kyuubi said in a dark echoing voice.

"Y-you... K-Kyuubi... W-where are we?! H-How d-did you bring me here?" Kasumi asked as she was terrified of the legendary beast of destruction stood before her.

 **"We're in your mind ningen. But I want to ask you something. You liked it didn't you?"** The Kyuubi said with a malicious grin. **"When you used my power to kill him? In fact you enjoyed it."**

"N-no! He...! Mizuki sensei tried to...!" Kasumi broke down in tears remembering how Mizuki attempted to rape her and how she grabbed a kunai out of pure rage. Her mind was breaking apart, as more dense bubbling chakra was going to engulf her but she felt a hand on her shoulder. The hand was warm. She then turned around to see who it was.

Naruto Uchiha.

"Hey Kasumi." Naruto said with a light smile. His eyes were different instead of the normal blue she really liked seeing it was red. There were six black blades like a pinwheel in the iris of his eyes. Naruto sat down to her level and looked her deep in the eyes as the chakra coat began to dissolve. The Kyuubi roared.

 **"You! Uchiha scum!"** The Kyuubi roared and leaked his killing intent. It was dark. Way too dark. **"Come here so I can rip you to shreds!"**

"Do I look that stupid?" Naruto asked as his Mangekyou stared into the Kyuubi. He made a ram sign and the Kyuubi felt suppressed. That damn Mangekyou.

 **"You."** The Kyuubi said once more as he was slowly beginning to fall asleep. **"Your chakra and blood. It's the same as his. Even your eyes are as malicious as Madara's. You're his descendant aren't you? That accursed Sharingan of yours is going to be your downfall ningen. I pray I can watch the light leave your eyes."**

"Enough. Now sleep." Naruto said, not wanting to keep using his Mangekyou. For the last six years, whenever he used the Mangekyou, he did not feel the pain as much as he did. It receded over the years. Still he did not want to risk it. He figured it must've been a genetic trait. His parents and brother as he learned from Shisui's scrolls had also not gone blind from using the Mangekyou, though that was probably because they did not use it that often.

However Kyuubi's words on him Madara's descendant had piqued his interest. He did remember reading a secret scroll in the Stone Tablet Chamber about Madara and a woman he was infatuated with conceiving a child. Maybe just maybe... that child had gone on to become the ancestor for the Branch Clan. That would explain why the Branch Clan despite not having the majority of the Clan Secrets still became good shinobi. That would explain the Main House ,with the exception of a handful, treated the Branch members that way. The Uchiha Clan was fucked up by any and all standards. They hated the man who became a rogue shinobi but ended up adopting his will later on. Naruto mused again maybe his parent's were somehow directly descended from Madara's child. He felt a little proud of being descended from Madara himself.

The Kyuubi had closed his eyes and Naruto looked back at Kasumi who was still looking at him in awe. She seemed so lost.

"Let's leave. I'll try to explain everything later."

* * *

Kasumi's House.

Naruto grabbed the kunai from Kasumi's hand and told her to play along, as he deactivated his Sharingan. He sensed some ANBU coming. There were two. One with a boar mask and another female with a cat mask.

"What happened here?" Cat asked as she eyed the body of Mizuki who had a stab mark on his chest. He was not breathing anymore.

"I came here to visit Kasumi about her exam paper." Naruto brought it out of his pocket. "Apparently her paper was based on the old tougher curriculum via layer of genjutsu. I came here to speak to her about it and saw that Mizuki was trying to.." Naruto didn't finish as Cat looked at Kasumi who was hiding behind Naruto and clutching the back of his shirt. Her top was a little torn off and both the ANBU understood.

Naruto turned around and took off his jacket giving it to Kasumi. He placed her arms within the jacket and zipped it up as she hugged the jacket. She was still shaking.

"You two will need to come with us to the Hokage. It'll be better if he hears this." Boar spoke for the first time. Kasumi sat down and cried once more.

"Could give us a few minutes?'' Naruto asked politely with a stoic voice. The ANBU understood and stepped outside of the apartment closing the door.

Naruto sat down to her level and was looking at her.

"I-I'm a monster." Kasumi said in whispers as tears kept falling. "Mizuki was right. I'm the-" Kasumi could not finish as she felt two familiar hands on her shoulders once again. She was staring into Naruto's eyes which seemed hurt, yet it comforted her at the same time.

"No you're not." Naruto spoke as softly as he could. This was thin ice he was treading on. "Mizuki was a fool who didn't know any better. What he tried to do you... I would've killed him anyway."

Kasumi gasped a little at what her once friend said. He would've KILLED Mizuki. But at the same time her heart started beating faster. He would've killed Mizuki because of what he tried to to her.

"Kasumi... Don't tell anyone about the fox you met today. Tell Hokage sama that Mizuki tried to force himself on you. Then I arrived and fought him. He called you the demon fox and that ... I killed him. Don't argue please." Naruto tightened his grip on her shoulders a bit. "Let me take the blame. I'm officially a shinobi and they'll let it slide. So please as your friend I ask you this."

Kasumi stared wide eyed again at his last statement. He was her friend?

"D-Do you really mean it?" Kasumi asked as she looked at him with hope. "A-Are we friends?"

Naruto smiled. For the first time in years he genuinely smiled. How he felt relieved that Kasumi would still accept him as a friend.

"Hai." Naruto said as he poked her forehead with his index and middle fingers. He picked this up from Itachi and Shisui who often teased him. "You're my first friend."

Kasumi then cried a bit more.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Are you coming or not?" the voice of Cat came from the other side of the door.

"Yeah just wait." Naruto said. He then helped Kasumi get up taking her hands into his. It felt so soft. They then walked out of the apartment and followed the ANBU.

* * *

The Hokage's Office.

Naruto and Kasumi finished explaining the situation to Hiruzen Sarutobi. Kasumi explained to Sarutobi, and Naruto by extension as to why Mizuki had come there in the first place. Apparently Mizuki had come and told Kasumi that there was a way to pass the exam after you've failed. All she had to do was impress Mizuki. At first she did not understand what Mizuki meant and asked permission to come in so he could explain what she would need to do.

Mizuki had come in and was trying to get touchy with Kasumi. She refused and told him to leave her alone as she knows that civilians can't attack a shinobi, not without proper cause and Kasumi was essentially the village pariah. Then Mizuki had slapped Kasumi across her cheek, which explained the red mark. He then dragged her to her room and said something about 'cleansing the demon'. He had torn off the upper portion of her top and placed his hand over her mouth so she could not yell for help.

She started crying as she remembered the scene from an hour ago and broke down crying. Naruto placed a shoulder on her hand and she tried to choke back her sobs. This act was not missed in the Third Hokage's eyes. He could see a strong bond between these two. He had never seen them together before and assumed that they must've met prior to the Academy. Mentally, he was chuckling at the scene before him.

'Ah young ones.' Sarutobi thought to himself.

Naruto then explained that was the situation he came onto and Mizuki held Kasumi hostage at kunai point. He then said that Mizuki revealed that the Kyuubi not Kitsune was sealed inside Kasumi. That she was the demon reborn. Kasumi had then broken free from his grip by reverse head butting him. Naruto then rushed and killed Mizuki with the kunai otherwise Mizuki would've killed both of them. Naruto had also added that he knew the difference between a kunai and the scroll that holds it.

He said that Kasumi was important, she jailed the Kyuubi she was not the Kyuubi. She is the reason why Kyuubi did not get to destroy the entire village and was still holding it back, protecting the village. Kasumi once more smiled at her friend. He would always have her back, that was the thought in Kasumi's mind.

Sarutobi was impressed at the reasoning of the young Uchiha. He noted the resemblances of ideals that he held and couldn't help but compare it to his parents. He was truly the son of Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha.

When asked about the malicious chakra that the cat mask wearing ANBU felt, Naruto explained that she just flared her chakra unknowingly due the dense nature of her chakra system and some of the Kyuubi's influence leaked out. That receded immediately. He also tactically made sure that there was no mention of his Sharingan. Kasumi had also not said anything about it. Though Naruto knew that Kasumi would bug him about it later.

The Sandaime Hokage was ashamed of the fact that someone like Mizuki was a Konoha shinobi. He then questioned Naruto about how he knew how to release the genjutsu, Naruto explained that Shisui had left many notes of shinobi arts in the house and Naruto had read that one a few days ago. He added that he really did not understand the whole thing, just the basics.

"Naruto kun. How did you feel after you had killed Mizuki?" Sarutobi asked. This was an important question. It would determine his psychological capacity.

"Hokage sama. I felt sick." Naruto said remembering his first kill. The bandits he killed. "I felt like vomiting but for some reason I held it back. I keep remembering how I stabbed him with his kunai. How... I saw his eyes slowly losing their color." Naruto looked down.

Kasumi however had felt those same exact emotions, beside the obvious berserker rage. This raised another question in her mind. She was slow, but she was not an idiot as people believed. 'Did Naruto kill someone before?'

"I see." Sarutobi then looked at Kasumi. "I am sorry you had to go through that Kasumi chan. Even the exam you gave was tampered with. I could arrange for you to take the exam in another two weeks if you want. You can do that right?"

"Hai jiji" Kasumi slightly felt relieved that the pressure of the situation was lightening. Naruto was right. She was going to go scot free.

"Hokage sama", Naruto spoke, "if I may interject. Can I be Kasumi's helper until she takes the exam?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. He knew better. He could obviously see some sort of connection between the two. However those two themselves did not see it.

"I have no problem with that Naruto kun. You can visit the Konoha Hospital if you want Naruto kun. Most people feel strange after their first kill."

"Hai Hokage sama." Naruto got up and Kasumi turned to Sarutobi, "Arigato Jiji. For letting me take the exams again." She said it in a low voice. Not like her usual loud mouthed voice. Sarutobi felt sad hearing her tone.

"It's alright Kasumi chan. Make sure you pass the exams this time."

"Umm jiji?" Kasumi asked. "Can I stay somewhere else today? The apartment is still..." She did not finish. They both understood the situation.

"Hokage sama. I have three spare rooms. Since I'll be training her she can stay at my place." Naruto then realized about the implied inappropriateness of what he said and covered his mouth over his stupid blabber. Kasumi tilted her head in confusion, which was cute in Naruto's eyes. He mentally cursed again.

'Dammit! Curse you Miko obaa chan!'

Sarutobi had a perverted giggle on her face. For some reason he was remembering Icha Icha Vol 4. Young Love. Kasumi realized what Naruto's words had mistakenly implied and saw Sarutobi giggling. Out of nowhere she threw a ramen cup at his face and it left a red mark. The ANBU guarding the room did not interfere. The old man had it coming.

"G-Gomen. I didn't mean to say it like that!" Naruto spluttered out.

"I-It's okay. I can stay in the extra room." Kasumi said. Then her hair started flowing again. "But don't try anything funny!" Naruto shivered. The ANBU sweat dropped at her behavior.

After a few more words were exchanged, the Uchiha and the Uzumaki left and Sarutobi sat alone.

'An Uchiha and an Uzumaki... Never thought I'd see this day coming.' Sarutobi then noticed a stack of papers magically appearing on his desk and growled in frustration.

"One day paperwork." Sarutobi said with a dark tone. "One day."

* * *

Naruto's Apartment, Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Well then make sure you wake up at 7 in the morning. Good night." Naruto said and was going to leave but suddenly Kasumi ran and hugged him.

Naruto's brain stopped working. Kasumi's head was buried into his chest and his arms wrapped themselves around Kasumi on his own. She was crying again. She had not said a single word when they walked back to her house to get some of her clothes and then made it all the way back to the Uchiha Compound. They also had a silent dinner, which unsurprisingly was ramen. Hey! She needed it.

Now the emotional dam was broken, Naruto's shirt was getting soaked from Kasumi's tears.

"Arigato." Kasumi's voice made it Naruto's ear.

"It's alright Kasumi." Naruto rubbed her back as gently as he could while the other was on the back of her head. "Rest up. We'll meet tomorrow. I promise."

"Okay." Kasumi then looked at him. She had a blush on her face as she looked away. Why did she hug him again?

"Okay then goodnight." Naruto said and he smiled at her. Kasumi with the blush smiled back. She seemed so beautiful when she smiled and Naruto himself had a light blush on his face. "You know... You should always smile more. It suits you." He didn't have the guts to look at her and say it.

Unknown to him Kasumi face got even redder and looked like a tomato. 'Dammit! My face feels hot!'

"Thanks.. You should smile more too." Kasumi then grinned as she felt like one upping him. "Otherwise you look like Sasugay."

Naruto blinked at Kasumi. Three times more and started laughing along with Kasumi. The pun on Sasuke's name was worth it.

"Hehehe." Naruto stopped his laughing. "That was a good one. Anyways Kasumi I should be going to sleep now. Meet me at the Naka River tomorrow. We'll begin your training from tomorrow alright?"

"Yup." Kasumi chirped. "This time I will become a genin. Heck, I'll be even stronger than you!"

Naruto shook his head. This girl just had her first kill a few hours ago

Naruto went to his room which was just a room away. He liked how Kasumi had hugged him. She felt so warm to him. Naruto went inside and had dinner and fell asleep. He was looking forward to tomorrow. He remembered her smile again. It made him feel so carefree and happy.

"Kami... Make sure I can always protect that smile."

* * *

The Next Morning.

Naruto had cooked breakfast and both of them talked about how she felt considering she had her first kill. She said that she could not sleep properly but eventually got some. After breakfast Naruto brought a sealing scroll which had the books and headed out to Naka River with Naruto. How he wished she would wear something other than orange.

As they finally reached near the river they stopped at the clearing. Naruto went to his favorite spot. A tree which had been grown by by his brothers Obito and Shisui. He felt a deep connection with that tree. It provided the perfect amount of shade.

The duo of orange and blue sat down near the tree and Naruto then brought out the books on chakra theory he had written and gave it to her. She did not know shit from what he understood.

"But why do I have to read this?!" Kasumi asked with a whine. "Why can't you teach me how to make a clone?" Naruto sighed.

"First you need to understand the basics. You have absolutely no control over you chakra." Naruto said. She looked down. "Though that's not your fault. Your chakra reserves must be ridiculously large so that's probably why-"

"Really! That's so awesome-ttebayo!" Kasumi yelled.

"Yes and if you learn how to properly control it you can use many other jutsu easily. Plus I think by the time you study a little bit about it. I can do something about your bunshin problem" Naruto added and Kasumi had fire in her eyes.

"Okay don't worry Naru!" Naruto was surprised by the nickname Kasumi just gave him. Inwardly he was happy, though he did not show it. "I'll finish this and I any other challenge you throw at me-ttebayo! I'm not afraid!" Suddenly the air became cold as Naruto had devious smirk on his face.

"Oh you will be ... You will be." Naruto then started chuckling in an evil mastermind fashion with his arms outstretched and open palms facing the sky. Kasumi paled at his expressions.

'What did I get myself into?' Kasumi asked herself.

* * *

 **BOO YAH! How was that people? I hope you enjoyed how I laid out the chapter today. Yes I know it's annoyingly shorter than the last one but I did not feel like dragging you guys for too long. Hell you wouldn't have read half of the words if it's too long. But any doodle, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review to tell me what you think as to how this fic is going. Tap that favorite button if you enjoyed it. And as always take care. Ja ne:)**


	7. Fleeting Moments

Hey **everyone back with a new chapter on the Mage of Six Paths and tonight.**

 **Naruto** Uchiha: **Hey! That's the wrong fic.**

 **Rifat: Oh sorry! My bad. I mean welcome to another chapter of the Uchiha Prodigy. Where Naruto is an Uchiha and this shit really doesn't matter.**

 **Naruto: Do you really have to do that? I mean the whole antagonizing me part?**

 **Rifat: Oh I'm sorry what did you say? You want Kasumi to fall in love with Sasuke. Okay the-**

 **Naruto: NO! NO! That's not what I meant! I mean Kasumi is a really nice girl and *cue blush***

 **Rifat: Well... this is interesting what do you think George?**

 **George Takei: Oh my~**

 **Rifat: Wise words as ever Mr Sulu.**

 **Naruto: How did he get here?**

 **Rifat: Because I'm Batman!**

 **Naruto: Clearly our author is high right now. So let me say this. Thank you for all the reviews and follows / favorites you've left. Not only is he happy but I'm a bit cheerful as well and we'd like to say thank you to all of y-**

 **Kasumi: Hey Naru!**

 **Naruto: Oh Kasumi... What are you doing here?**

 **Kasumi: Oh nothing..*scratches the back of her head* Just wanted to say high to the readers.**

 **Naruto: Okay. Did you finish doing the laps?**

 **Kasumi: ... Oh look at that. *Runs away while Naruto looks the other way***

 **Naruto: What the?! Get back here Kasumi! *runs after her***

 **Rifat: I am so writing a lemon about them once this puppy love phase is over.**

 **George Takei: Oh my~**

 **Rifat: Thank you once again George. Now let's get on with the disclaimer.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

10 Days Later, Woods, The Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

"Ano, Naru" Kasumi said as Naruto was practicing his bukijutsu.

"What is it Kasumi?" Naruto asked as he stopped his practice.

"I want to ask you something." Kasumi said as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her black shirt. After spending and learning a week from Naruto, Kasumi was wearing less orange. The keyword being less as there was still enough orange to go around for her. In Kasumi's own words, Naruto did not understand 'the true power of the color orange.' But Naruto had also learned a lot of things about Kasumi.

For one she was always overpriced for everything she bought. Her rent was taken care of by the Sandaime, which Naruto probably guessed was due to her being a member of the Uzumaki Clan, and the stores in Konoha had always ripped her off. Another very important thing that he learned about Kasumi was her drive to be acknowledged. Even if the village hated her she did not. She was truly a kind person and wanted to protect the village. She wanted to be the Hokage because that way people would acknowledge her and treat her with respect. Her role model was of course the Yondaime Hokage.

Moving on, Naruto knew that if he was seen walking around the village with Kasumi a new breed of rumors would be born and he would rather avoid such an event. Why? He did not want people to know that he was close to Kasumi, particularly the Civilian Council. They'd probably rant about him being tainted by the demon or something like that. This brought another question to Naruto's mind.

'How stupid could they be to even think that? If the Kyuubi had Kotoamatsukami then it would've been possible.'

"Naru" Kasumi whined out and was doing that cute little pout face. "Did you daze off again?" Kasumi too had learned a fair share of things about Naruto. He was a very quiet boy, just like in class. But there was huge difference between the one in the academy and the one at his house. He was stoic but he was very kind. Ever since she started staying here, Naruto did not want her to do a single chore saying that she deserves a rest from being treated as a pariah for now, Naruto was smart enough not to use that word when discussing this. She had also seen pictures of his family. His parents and his brothers. She felt warm and cuddly when she saw all their pictures. She mused at how Naruto must've felt when his family was alive. And from the pictures she saw, Naruto was quite happy as a child.

However, a problem for both of them rose during this ten day time span. The hormones were acting up.

Naruto knew that Kasumi was by far the most beautiful girl he had seen so far. Her face, hair and most of all her eyes. They intrigued him to no end. He found it quite hard not to stare into her violet orbs. It was too mesmerizing. He greatly appreciated her presence at his house as well. He has been living alone ever since he was seven and Kasumi was great company to have, albeit a little loud sometimes. But he wouldn't change it for anything. Which made him ponder more on his true feelings. Is she just a friend? A close friend? Does he just wants them to be friends?

Kasumi was equally curious about the situation. For the first time in her life she could say that she was not alone. She had someone to see when she woke up. The raven haired boy would treat her kindly. He cooked for them. He would say 'Good Morning' and 'Good Night'. He was training her properly, something most of the instructors bar Suzume and Iruka had not done. He had taught her from the ground up. But most of all, he care about her.

More than the Ichirakus, more than Jiji and her friend Hinata. He would never show it in a excessive display, but after staying with him for 10 days she pretty much had an idea how her raven haired friend functioned. But therein lied her problem as well. Was Naruto just a friend to her? Seeing him shirtless one day certainly did not help that much. Also, when Naruto looked at her it would be much different from the looks Kiba and her other fanboys gave her. It was a reassuring look that he'd be there for her.

"Gomen, Kasumi." Naruto said scratched the back of his head. "What did you want to ask?"

"Well... Um." Kasumi put a hand on her chin. She knew the question was somewhat personal and she also learned that Naruto had some secrets. What she did not know was that Naruto had secretly traded places with himself with a reinforced Shadow Clone, while he went to train. He did not want to crank up her stress with his level of training, well not yet anyway.

"Go ahead Kasumi." Naruto said with a reassuring smile. "You can ask me anything." Getting the confidence from her words she went ahead with it.

"Well it's about your eyes." Kasumi said. "Why did they become red? And there were commas all around them."

"Those weren't commas." Naruto chuckled lightly. "Those dots are called tomoe. And the red eyes I have are called the Sharingan."

"Sharingan?" Kasumi said and then she remembered something important. "Oh yeah... Your eyes changed right? I mean the design." Naruto sweat dropped at the word 'design'. It sounded so wrong and girly in his mind.

"Hai. The _shape_ changed." Naruto explained. "That stage is called the Mangekyou Sharingan. It's a more advanced stage of the Kekkei Genkai."

"What's a kekkei genkai?" Kasumi asked. Unknown to Konoha in general, she may have sucked in history but when it came to shinobi knowledge she would want to know everything about it.

"Kekkei Genkai. A blood limit. It's a unique special ability that is passed down from a shinobi family. Every major shinobi clan has one. For example, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju had the Mokuton. It is said that along with his monstrous chakra reserves and his Wood Release, he constructed the entire forests surrounding Konoha. As such, it is widely considered the most powerful kekkei genkai along with the Sharingan." Kasumi had stars in her eyes after hearing how the Shodaime had made the entire forest but the last sentence had also caught her attention.

"Well what does the Sharingan do?" Kasumi asked. Her friend had one of the most powerul Kekkei Genkai in the world. She was swelling with pride.

"Well." Naruto activated his Sharingan for dramatic effect. "The Sharingan only manifests in the members of the Uchiha Clan. The Sharingan can see the chakra network in your body. It can also see the build up of chakra inside your body. There is also another factor to the Sharingan. It can predict what attack you are going to perform."

"Sugoi!" Kasumi yelled excitedly. "That way no one can touch you! You'd be unbeatable!" Naruto shook his much to her dismay. She was confused.

"The Sharingan is only as strong as it's user. I know there are a lot of shinobi out there that I could never beat. Not right now. If they are faster than me then I can never predict their attacks. But there is one more upside to the Sharingan."

"Ooh. What is it?" Kasumi asked.

"The Sharingan means the Copy Wheel Eye. As it's name suggests it allows you to copy ninjutsu, genjutsu and to an extent some taijutsu moves as well. You could copy a jutsu down to the tiniest detail and have it memorized to use it later."

"Wow." Kasumi said while grinning. "You're the best you know that Naru!" Naruto felt a little embarrassed at the statement.

"Oi oi." Naruto spoke as he deactivated his Sharingan. "Don't say that or I'll slack off. By the way there are four days left until your exam. How is everything beside the Bunshin?" Naruto intentionally changed the topic because he knew that Kasumi would bring up questions about the Mangekyou. Right now she did not need to know. Besides, her exams were coming up.

"It's perfect. But," Kasumi said with a downed look, " what if I fail again? I could never perform a Bunshin ever. Then all your hel-"

Kasumi was poked on her forehead again by Naruto with his index and middle fingers. She rubbed her forehead like a child. Naruto was smiling.

"Don't worry." Naruto said. "We'll just do a different bunshin according to your chakra reserves. Also Kasumi I want you to promise me one thing."

"What Naru?" Kasumi grew nervous as she saw the nervous look on Naruto's face.

"Never tell anyone about my Sharingan unless I tell them or I told you to. Not even the Hokage." Naruto said.

"Okay but why?" Kasumi asked.

"Well it's sort of personal and to be honest I don't want anyone to know that I have the Sharingan. That way they might treat me with delicacy. I don't want that."

"Okay." Kasumi nodded. From what she understood and experienced, Naruto did not appreciate when someone looked at him as just a member of the Uchiha Clan. She was never going to lose him again.

'Wait! Where did that thought come from?!' Kasumi was lightly blushing and Naruto grew curious as went in front of her and was eyeing her curiously.

"Oi Kasumi" Naruto was directly looking into her eyes, he did not realize that their noses were just away from each other " are you oka-"

"KYAA!" Kasumi instinctively punched Naruto away with her feminine fury. Naruto was lying on the ground with swirls instead of eyes, absolutely uncounscious. Kasumi realized what she did and was shaking Naruto even more violently to wake him up. She was holding his head in her lap and was sweating comical bullets.

"Oh no! I killed Naru!" It was even more funny because she was ranting on about how no one else would be her friend and what not. Then she noticed a figure standing away from them. The presence had just arrived.

"What are you doing here, dobe?"

Kasumi gritted her teeth at that sentence. Standing a few feet away from her was the heir of the Uchiha Clan. Sasuke Uchiha or as Kasumi called 'teme.'

"Teme." Kasumi said, proving the point of the author, "Go away. I have to wake Naru up."

Now this sentence got a different reaction from Sasuke. Normally, he'd be "Hn'-ing away but for some reason he felt jealous. The lamb from the branch side of the clan had someone to care for him. Even now. His mother Mikoto had often praised Naruto along with his traitor of a kinslaying brother Itachi. He had seen Naruto casually spend his time with his family and Sasuke's yet there was no indication of pressure or sadness in him, until the massacre occurred.

"Why are you here in the Uchiha Compound? You're not allowed here unless you're an Uchiha or an Uchiha allows it." Sasuke said with smug authority.

"Sasuke san" Naruto's voice made itself known to the both of them. Kasumi was smiling widely as she looked down at Naruto who had a neutral look on his face once more. " I was the one who allowed Kasumi to come here."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. "You really are nothing like the Uchiha are you Naruto? I don't see why you drag our clan name into the mud by hanging out with this loser."

Naruto was about to say something but Kasumi spoke up.

"Listen here teme!" Kasumi all but yelled. "I am not a loser! Just wait till I pass the exams four days from now! Then you'll see!"

"You're being allowed to take the exams again?" Sasuke smirked. "Looks like you're gonna fail again. Just forget about it. You're not fit to be a kunoichi anyway."

"Sasuke san." Naruto spoke up this time. "We are no one to tell a person what to do and what not to do. A person is free to do whatever they wish."

"That soft mind of yours is going to be your downfall one day Naruto" Sasuke said. "Do our clan a favor and stop training this loser."

"No." Naruto replied. Both Sasuke and Kasumi were staring at him for his immediate reply. "Kasumi was setup to fail in the exam. As a Leaf shinobi, I for one cannot let something like that happen to an upcoming promising kunoichi. Let alone a friend."

Kasumi beamed once more at Naruto's words. He really did believe in her. But Sasuke had a different question in his mind.

"What do you mean 'setup to fail'?" Sasuke asked. Naruto inwardly cursed himself for his big time fuck up. He needed to handle the situation but Kasumi went all guns blazing.

"Don't you know teme? Apparently I was given an exam paper based on the older and tougher questions and I still passed that one. So they're gonna give me another shot at the exams."

Sasuke was gritting his teeth. This no name clanless orphan had passed a written exam based on the previous curriculum. He felt threatened for some reason.

"That still makes you a loser." Sasuke said trying to make sure Kasumi loses her temper. But Naruto had enough of this. He grabbed Kasumi by the wrist who had butterflies in her stomach at the contact.

"Let's go Kasumi, we have to work on your bunshin." Naruto said dragging her away, completely missing the blush on her face. "I'll see you later Sasuke san"

Sasuke stood alone and watched them walk off. Why did he feel so angry at the moment? Sasuke walked away. He has better things to do.

* * *

Naruto's House.

"Kasumi." Naruto said with a stern voice as Kasumi shrunk under his vision. "You shouldn't have told Sasuke about the exam. You could've lied."

"I know but." Kasumi stopped. "It's just that whenever someone calls me dobe or loser. I. I feel so angry. I mean I never really had anyone to help me before. No one other than the Ichirakus and Jiji treated me nicely, but they weren't around all the time. I've always been alone and when people look down on me I feel like proving them wrong."

"I understand why you do it Kasumi." Naruto said. "And it's not wrong to feel like that. What I'm saying is that you should control your emotions better. That's what makes a good shinobi. Now we're going to have lunch and then we're going to fix your Bunshin problem. I have just the thing that could help you."

"Really?" Kasumi asked with all the innocence she had.

"Hai." Naruto said with pride. "It'll get you to pass the exams easily."

* * *

Timeskip: Four days later, Room 105, Konoha Academy.

"Okay Kasumi you passed the written exams and the bukijutsu portion as well" Suzume said as Iruka was sitting down. They had seen that Kasumi had considerably improved from what she was two weeks ago. They had also been informed by the Hokage about Mizuki as well. They were disgusted that such a person would act so casually with them. Suzume spoke once more, "Please perform the Academy Three."

Naruto was waiting outside the room, that was the one thing Kasumi was more focused on more than anything. He was there and he promised that he would always be there.

Kasumi brimmed with confidence and performed the Henge. She turned into Obito Uchiha. Black spiky hair, goggles over his eyes and the blue shinobi clothes. All in all he even had that goofy grin on his face.

"Um Kasumi," Suzume asked, "who did you henge into?"

"Obito Uchiha" she replied. "He was Naru's oldest brother.''

Suzume and Iruka were also informed that Naruto had personally decided to train her for the exams. But the way Kasumi so casually spoke about Naruto had spiked some interest in them. It seems that the two teens had some feelings for each other and Suzume for one was not going to let that chance get away.

"Naru huh?" Suzume said with teasing grin "Are you sure it's not Naru- _kun_?" Kasumi blushed at the way Suzume implied the suffix at the nickname she had given to Naruto.

"Okay Suzume tease Kasumi about her boyfriend later." Kasumi blushed even harder. The tomato look was coming back. Generally Iruka would not do this however after seeing their little interactions at the day of the exams he too concluded that they didn't look at each other as just friends. Naruto and Kasumi were probably going through that denial phase he assumed.

"Hai hai Iruka senpai" Suzume said and looked towards the blushing Kasumi. "Okay Kasumi please perform the Kawarimi."

Kasumi did so and replaced herself with Iruka who nodded satisfyingly. She was taking a whole lot less time than before. Now came the moment of truth.

"Kasumi." Suzume said. "Please perform the Bunshin technique."

"Gomen Suzume sensei, Iruka sensei. I can't do the Bunshin." Kasumi said and both teachers were a little disappointed. She was a real bag of sunshine and honestly they liked her. Suzume had known about the Uzumaki Clan and probably figured that it was probably because of her high chakra reserves that she was not able to do it.

"But." Kasumi gave an all knowing grin. "I wanted to ask you. Is any other form of Bunshin is acceptable?"

"Well generally that's not the case but I think we can allow it. Right senpai?" Suzume looked towards Iruka who nodded.

"Okay Kasumi please perform the other type of bunshin you know." Iruka said. Kasumi's next action had both of their jaws drop.

Kasumi grinned and made a cross hand seal with both index and middle fingers. This was the technique that Naruto had taught her four days ago. The technique, that she pulled off quite easily and was more comfortable with. It was a jounin technique, it was considered kinjutsu, a forbidden jutsu, because of the large amounts of chakra this ninpo drains. However to someone like Kasumi, this was no problem as Naruto explained. She had more chakra than Naruto had.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Four puffs of smoke appeared beside Kasumi. The smoke faded away and there were four identical Kasumis standing beside her. All of them were grinning. Both the chunnin however were surprised. Iruka more so because he did not expect a soon to be _genin_ to pull off a jutsu like that. They were perfect too. He was glad that there were not fanboys of her around otherwise some of them would've fainted out of sheer joy that there was more than one Kasumi.

Suzume was shocked too but to a lesser extent than her fellow senior co-worker. She knew that members of the Uzumaki Clan could pull this off, their chakra capacities and densities were so large their former village Uzushiogakure was called the Village of Longevity due to their large life spans.

Both Suzume and Iruka were broken out of their stupor when every Kasumi asked the same question at the same time.

"So did I pass?"

* * *

Outside Room 105, Konoha Academy.

Naruto had gone to get some popsicles for both himself and Kasumi. It was a mint flavored one and considering the somewhat increased heat of the day, it would be the perfect treat to have. Unfortunately there was only one and he decided that to get one for Kasumi. Of course he would've gotten there sooner if it wasn't for some annoying fan girls that always seemed to have him on an invisible radar. He sighed and curtly refused them and they were even more swooned claiming how he was such a nice guy.

Naruto sighed even more and once again felt pity for Sasuke knowing that he too had more of them. Why couldn't the girls be more like Kasumi. She was pretty and worked hard at the same time?

'Wait pretty?! I have got to stop thinking like that. What if she stops being friends with me?'

But all thoughts aside, he was going near the door of Room 105 once more. He had full faith in Kasumi's abilities and knew that she would pass the exam. But a part of him was deeply worried about her. He could not really explain the magnetic pull he felt towards Kasumi. It almost felt like right now she was the center of the world. His world. He was afraid really. What if something happened to her in the future? What if she gets in a situation that-

The door was slammed open and an orange and black blur made it's way onto Naruto's chest. He fell down and felt something holding him down. Luckily enough he was still holding the popsicle perfectly. It did not fall down. His vision then went on to his own chest. A familiar mop of blonde hair with red streaks was on his chest. Her hands were clinging onto Naruto's shirt as she tried to bury herself deeper into his chest. It was getting wet. Now Naruto was getting worried. Did she not pass the test? How?! They worked so hard-

"Naru" Kasumi whimpered. Naruto felt his heart beating faster. Again there was her whimpering voice. A tone that he did not want to hear. But he knew she was going to say something else. She raised her head from his chest and looked deep into his eyes. How he loved to see those violet orbs of hers. She too had become fascinated by the sheer ocean that was his eyes. They would get lost and time would slow down for them. He then saw that some tears were leaking out of the sides of her eyes. But underneath that, her lips had twitched upwards.

She was smiling.

"I did it Naru." Kasumi said in whispers. He was still on the ground and Kasumi was on top of him. "I finally did it Naru. I'm a kunoichi now." She then buried herself into his chest again. She wanted to savor the warmth that was emanating from his body.

Naruto felt his entire body relax at the smile and small whispers that Kasumi let out. Instinctively, his left arm went around her back and latched itself lightly on to Kasumi's neck and she relaxed after that happened. Both were in complete bliss, not even realizing the inappropriateness of the position they were in. She was straddled on to his waist as their legs were crossed.

"Oh my~" A feminine voice echoed throughout the whole hall. Suzume was standing looking over them. She was smiling at the scene before. It was taking all she had not to yell Kawaii from the cute little scene that was being displayed right before her. "You two should get a room."

Immediate reactions from those words followed and two very polarized reactions they were.

Kasumi "Eeped' and jumped away from Naruto while an atomic blush exploded all over her face. Now she did look like a tomato. Naruto also had a large blush on his face and was visibly stuttering while trying to recover from the situation. Suzume knew that the awkwardness of the situation would be well over 9000 if she did not go away right now, so she happily skipped away while chirping about Naruto and Kasumi sitting on a tree. She made it quite audible so they could hear it.

Naruto stood up and was still blushing. He didn't want to let go of Kasumi. In fact, he wanted to keep holding her. It felt so right. It felt so perfect. All his pain and worries had washed away when it came to Kasumi. If his world was covered in darkness before after the massacre happened, then Kasumi was the sun that rose afterwards and brought forth the light that made him feel peaceful again. He also felt occasional flutter in his heart when he was with her. Her smile right now was probably the most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life.

Kasumi was still in tomato mode, she couldn't believe that she had hugged Naruto like that in the middle of the hall like that. It was something she could not describe. Naruto was the first person who had become her friend. The first person who lived with her. Sure he was a slave driver when it came to training but she remembered how she had drained out completely a few days ago and Naruto had piggybacked her to their home. She was awake but she pretended not to be. She liked it when Naruto was in contact with her body. But she also felt really shy around him. She never felt like this towards anyone.

She did get particularly angry when the fan girls would look towards her Naru...

'Wait my Naru?! Aaaaahhhh! Why does he make me feel like this?!'

"Ano Kasumi." Naruto said lightly while he was still blushing. "Congratulations on passing the exam. Here." Naruto then extended the mint flavored popsicle towards her. Kasumi was surprised. Sure he did not let her do a damn chore at their house until she terrifyingly ensured that she too will do them, but he had enough faith in her that he would pass so he went to get her a popsicle. There was only one and she assumed that he did not get one, as Naruto would rarely eat anything without her.

"Arigato Naru" she said lightly and took the popsicle. It had two sticks for holding and Kasumi broke it in two and handed one to Naruto. "Here Naru. I don't want to eat it alone."

Naruto looked up and saw Kasumi's face once more. She was wearing that new orange outfit. It was a darker shade of orange and had some black in it. (Basically Naruto's clothes from Shippuden). Her hitai-ate was tied to her forehead while the goggles were hanging around her neck. Her twin pigtails were there as well. Her violet eyes were shining with happiness as the smile was still on her face. Naruto smiled as well. He took the halved popsicle.

"Arigato Sumi." Naruto gave her a nickname as well and Kasumi felt her heart beat rapidly fast now. Blood flowed to her cheeks once more. She was so happy now that she had forgotten about the fact that she had passed the Shinobi Exam.

"Shouldn't we go and visit Hokage sama?" Naruto asked. The old man was more than helpful throughout their lives and this was the least they could do right now. "I'm sure he'd love to see you wearing that headband."

"Hai. Jiji's gonna be happy when he sees this!" Kasumi said while she tapped her hitai-ate.

Both of them then walked onto the Hokage's office. The civilians were looking at them with awe. They were walking very closely and each of them had one half of a popsicle they were no doubt sharing. Just a little step to either side then their bodies would be brushed against each other. Naruto was smiling and this made his features look even more better as his usual fangirls squealed out of sheer delight and some late teen girls along with some mid 20's women blushed at the sight of him smiling. He looked so calm and cute in their eyes. Of course the same could be said in Kasumi's case because she looked absolutely amazing with that smile on her face. Her fanboys had swooned even more as some older chunnin were smirking at seeing such a cute girl.

Then there were the jealous glares from the opposite sexes. The males glared at Naruto and the females glared at Kasumi. However one similar conclusion was reached by both parties. They were one damn cute couple.

* * *

Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was one happy man right now. Not only did he finish that damned paperwork but he also got to see two of the next generation of Konoha's shinobi. He was really proud of the fact that Kasumi had severely improved with Naruto's help. Then of course there was the situation between the two youngsters and he wanted to take a jab.

"So Kasumi chan." Sarutobi said as he was trying to keep a good poker face. "Now that you're training with Naruto kun is complete I guess you're ready to move back into your old apartment ne?" He got the react he was expecting... No the reaction he was hoping for.

Kasumi felt a pang of pain in her heart as she looked towards Naruto. 'Am I going away from him?' She did not want to. She finally had someone. A someone who was always there for her. He was there when she woke up. He was there when she went to sleep. True, she was not an Uchiha and had no right to live there but Naruto had allowed it. Was she really going to move away from the one person she could not imagine her life without at the moment? The young Uzumaki girl kept asking herself as she found those familiar azure eyes staring into her own.

Naruto nearly felt like he was in Itachi's genjutsu again, yet different. What Itachi had showed him were illusions. Illusions that made him feel it was real, but this was real. That's what made this feel so much more horrible. After his mother died, all he had was his brother. Then came his Mikoto obaa chan and Tachi nii. Sure they weren't always with him but they made sure to visit him at least once a day. Then Itachi murdered the entire Uchiha Clan. He had lost everything.

Until Kasumi came that is. She changed everything. He had also lost her for more than five years because of his own foolishness and the last two weeks with her had made one thing certain in his mind. He needed her. He too had turned towards her and looked at her just like him.

They were looking at each other as the pain of being separated had landed itself onto their eyes. Hiruzen smiled knowing what their answers would be. Ever since a few years ago, the Civilian Council had become neutral to Kasumi Uzumaki's case and he was grateful. He had regained some of the power he had lost to them and asserted that he was indeed the Hokage and his word was final. Though he did wonder what had happened that caused that Council to become so neutral to the person, the very same person whose head they called for on multiple occasions. He had thought of a conclusion in his mind but he wanted to see how this plays out.

"Ahem" Sarutobi brought back their attention. "So Kasumi chan are you ready to go back into that apartment of yours?"

"..." Kasumi remained silent while her eyes found the ground very interesting at the moment. She then muttered something that both Naruto and Sarutobi could not hear.

"Gomen Kasumi chan I could not hear you. Could you repeat that?" Sarutobi asked. Naruto was having plethora of scenarios being played out in his mind. He knew that he shouldn't let his emotions get the better of him and how he had become so close to Kasumi would hinder with his regular training. But he'd be damned before he let her go. If she says yes, then he'll try to make her reconsider her decision. But he would not force her. He could never do that to her. Except training, that's a different case.

"I said no." Kasumi said lightly as Hiruzen smiled at her answer. Naruto felt like flying right now and a stupid grin had made it's way to his face but he suppressed it to a smile. His emotional masking was completely useless around Kasumi. "I want to train with Naru more. There are still two more months before I get placed on a team.

Naruto was still smiling. Two months. Two more months with Kasumi living with him. He was happy with that. More than happy.

"I see" Hiruzen said. He still wasn't done. "What about after that? When the team placements begin and your career as a kunoichi begins?"

Kasumi wanted to reply but she knew no matter what she said would come out in a wrong way and was trying to construct her reasoned sentence but Naruto beat her to it.

"Hokage sama, if I may speak." Naruto said completely serious and Sarutobi nodded. " The entire Uchiha Compound is empty and I live alone in my house which can no doubt house more than four people. I have no problems with Kasumi staying there. Even after the team placements."

"Hmmm" Sarutobi pretended to be in deep thought. "I see but let's see what Kasumi chan thinks. Do you want to-"

"HAI! I HAVE NO PROBLEM LIVING WITH NARU-TTEBAYO!" Kasumi yelled out and blushed in embarrassment. Naruto also blushed all the more because he found that verbal tic of hers endearing.

"I see. Well I don't think that will be a problem. Very well you are free to leave. Come back tomorrow for your Shinobi Registration Kasumi chan. We'll see about your move to the Compound matter tomorrow."

Naruto bowed his head to the Sandaime while Kasumi hugged the old man and Sarutobi too hugged his pseudo granddaughter. They were walking out of the office when Sarutobi decided to something smart much to his dismay.

"Oh and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Young love these days-"

THWACK!

A ramen cup had Sarutobi in the face once more as Naruto tried to look away with a blush and a completely red faced Kasumi had thrown the ramen cup at his face.

* * *

Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound.

The two residents of the house had entered. There was once more life present in the house. However the situation was a bit different now. This house would now have two permanent members instead of the lonesome one as it was for so many years. It was just going to be dusk now. Time had flown by quickly. Naruto spoke up first.

"Kasumi." He said softly as he felt completely relaxed. "Go and wash up. I'll make something up for us. OKa-"

Naruto could not finish the sentence as Kasumi had hugged him once more.

"Arigato Naru." Kasumi said in a very low tone. She was not sure why she was hugging him. She only knew that she had to. Something inside her brain was commanding her to. Her arms had tightly wrapped themselves around his waist as her head rested peacefully on his chest. She was smiling at being so close to him. "Thank you for being here. For being a friend. You're the first person to accept me for who I am. Even after finding out what I have in me."

"Sumi." Naruto said softly as his one of his arms wrapped around her and the other arm was on the back of her head. Her frame fitted completely into him. They were tightly held by each other as if one them would disappear if they were let go right now. "You never have to thank me for anything. If anything I should thank you. You were my first friend. I was so alone after the Clan Massacre. I forgot how to smile. You made me feel happy again. So thank you."

Kasumi lifted her head to see Naruto's face again. Those kind baby orbs that completely mesmerized her to no end. He too stared back at those violet eyes that entranced him ever since their first meeting. Kasumi then did something he did not expect and Kasumi too did not know she was going to do that.

She kissed his cheek. She was waiting for something. Any reaction at all. Surprise. Fear. Anger. Anything.

She then felt Naruto's lips lightly kiss her forehead and a great swell in her heart began. Both were smiling and hugged each other again. Kasumi's face was once again on Naruto's chest as his chin rested on the top of her head.

"This feels good doesn't it?" Naruto asked a bit nervously. His previous action could've driven her away and he asked this to wash away any doubt he had.

"Hai. It does." Kasumi whispered once more as neither left each other's embrace.

* * *

 **Okay... I did not expect it to go that way. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less. But definitely did not expect my self to end this chapter here. But hey, my fingers are aching a bit and I feel like I should stop a bit here right now. It seems right. Just let them have this moment. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I know it's a bit giddy and makes you feel just a little warm but hey. I did mention this was going to be a romance fanfic, the tag is there. Please hit that follow or favorite button if you think this story is worth it. Also, don't forget to leave your reviews I really love it when you guys leave your opinions. As usual people take care and Ja ne :)**


	8. Spars, Weapons and Team Placements

**I am Rifat Alam. And I am here to ask you one question. Is a man not entitled to the enjoyment of his own imagination? No says the man name Kishimoto, Naruto belongs to him. No says the man named Kubo, Bleach belongs to him. No says the man name Oda, One Piece belongs to him. I know these answers are true but I rejected them all the same. Instead I chose the impossible. I chose Fanfiction.**

 **A site where people could write their own versions of stories. Where the content itself would not be bound by petty ratings and filler demands. And then there are you guys the readers who make this worthwhile. If it wasn't for you guys and your reviews, I would've stopped a long time ago.**

 **I know a lot of you are thinking why I am pulling off an Andrew Ryan monologue, well I re-played BioShock a few days ago and I realized something. It has been nearly 10 years since it came out and I last played. I didn't even realize how quickly time passed me by. So there you have it and I do have one last thing for you guys to do.**

 **Would you kindly read the chapter and review?**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

2 Months Later, Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Sumi come on." Naruto called out while he stood outside her door. He was wearing his casual clothes and was waiting for her. They would have breakfast and then train a little bit. Over the last two months, ever since Naruto had hugged Kasumi and kissed her forehead there was a visible change in him. He was smiling a whole lot more for some reason. However the pair had slowly broke away from the hug afterwards after realizing the severe meaning behind their physical contact.

Kasumi on the other hand had absolutely adored her roommate. She was always cheerful but now she couldn't imagine her life without her raven haired enigma. Of course when he trained her, that was when she could definitely live without him. Seriously, he made her climb trees with her feet saying that her chakra control was horrible. Now in her defense, she had graduated from the Academy and was considered the top 6th student overall. How she had done so well with the written exam was still something that baffled Naruto and he came to the only reasonable conclusion he could come to.

Kasumi was by all rights was a genius of sorts. Sure she was loud and wore bright orange clothing, she also packed a mean right hook that many of her fan boys had endured but aren't geniuses flawed in their own unique ways?

"Naru." Kasumi opened the door and was still in her pajamas with a sleeping hat on top no less. She was rubbing her eyes. "Why do we have to wake up so early today?"

"Well. That katana you ordered will arrive today so I thought that-"

"Oh yeah!" Kasumi gleamed up. Naruto had given her his own tanto as he had decided to switch to a katana.

Kasumi began training with the tanto for basics but Naruto immediately saw that her stance and posture were suited for a katana. He had ordered on for her and one for himself as he had copied contents on kenjutsu from the Stone Chamber. By now all the contents in the chamber save the tablet it self was destroyed. Naruto had succesfully copied the contents of every scroll there was in the Chamber and burned away the evidence so no one could get their hands on clan secrets anymore. He didn't trust Sasuke for some reason. If the boy proved that he could control his hatred, then Naruto would willingly share jutsu with him. But for now all of them would be under his protective Fuuinjutsu seals.

As always Fuuinjutsu proved to be just as useful as his Sharingan as he had finally achieved Level Five a few days ago. He would've progressed more but he also had to train his Sharingan and his other four elemental affinities. Kasumi had noticed him drawing out kunai from scrolls and became interested. Just like her blood trait, she took to Fuuinjutsu like fish to a water. She thought it was really cool. Naruto had also started selling high quality storage scrolls to the Higurashi Weapon Accessories at a good price and it was from there he saw the large range of weapons and orders that store had made. Needless, to say Naruto had placed his order along with Kasumi's from there.

Their weapons would be coming from the Land of Iron itself.

Then Kasumi remembered something that was equally interesting to her. "Wait then your katana and those weird things will come today too right?"

"Yeah. I am looking real forward to it." Naruto said as a smile had taken Kyuubi's words into his mind and developed a hypothesis that the Branch Side of the Uchiha Clan had indeed descended from Madara. By that logic, perhaps Kagami Uchiha, his grandfather, who was also from the Branch Clan must've been descended from Madara somehow.

Naruto then found a growing interest in Madara's unique old weapon tactics. He used a Gunbai, a war fan that even during the Warring States was uncommon unless you were highly proficient Wind Style User. From what he learned Madara and his Gunbai had killed too many people to count. Naruto then started studying about the Gunbai and saw that apart from the high impact winds it caused it could also be used as a defense. However the full use of it would come out if you had a mid-long range weapon with you. Naruto, unknowingly, had decided that his other weapon would be a kusarigama. Both weapons specifications had been taken by Sounga Higurashi and he had promised them nothing but the best.

"Naru what's for breakfast? Is it ramen?!" She excitedly asked as Naruto poked her forehead with his index and middle fingers. Maybe this was a thing for Uchiha who were free or not completely tainted by their own arrogance. She rubbed her forehead. She both hated and liked it when Naruto did it.

"Sorry Sumi. Maybe we'll have ramen for breakfast some other day." Naruto smiled and told her to wash up. Naruto and Kasumi then both took showers separately and decided that they would go through their usual training.

* * *

Uchiha Clan Training Ground.

"You have to do better than that Sumi." Naruto said as he blocked another one of Kasumi's blows.

He had left a shadow clone to tail Sasuke in case he suddenly decided to pop up as he had chosen in the last two months. His reactions towards the both of them had changed. Well not to Naruto. They were simply clansmen. Nothing more, nothing less. They did care about each other to some extent, but there was no actual bond or kinship between them. But his reactions towards Kasumi had changed over the last two months and he would give her some strange looks when he thought that Naruto wasn't looking. Too bad for him, Naruto did see it. Ever since then he made sure to take some assurances against Sasuke. The look he had in his eyes towards Kasumi was both unhealthy and to some extent repulsive.

"Fuuton: Yadama Henshin Bakuha" Kasumi let out a great gust of wind to deflect the shuriken Naruto had launched towards her.

Two months back, Naruto had decided to reveal the secret of the Kage Bunshin to Kasumi and she was glad when she learned about the Memory Relay System. Out of sheer curiosity, Naruto had given her a chakra paper to determine her abilities. To his surprise the paper split into four parts. One of the papers completely shredded it self, one of them became dripping wet and the last part became dirt itself. Kasumi had ridiculous amounts of affinities for wind, water and earth.

So Naruto began training her on water walking and she was getting the hang of it pretty soon. Next came the leaf splitting exercise. That had taken a lot of time but he needed to be patient with her. After she finally learned how to split leaves easily he gave her the wet leaf exercise. Where she would perform the leaf exercise with the leaf on her forehead as she would try to make it wet via her chakra output. The leaf became dripping wet and his theory was proven correct. Kasumi to some extent could absorb the water molecules in the air. He then decided he could teach her some jutsu on wind and water first. Earth was something he was absolutely oblivious to so he thought he would get her some jutsu later on.

Naruto and Kasumi got in close contact again as they both had kunai in hand and tried to hit each other's vital points. Teaching her about the vital points in the human body. Naruto had to admit that if Kasumi had proper training from the time he had started she would be on his level no doubt. She was a hard worker and she had large chakra reserves to back her up. Finally, Kasumi's kunai were disarmed and she was forced to draw out her tanto. She needed more practice to as Naruto was evading every strike.

Funny how two months of 'training' had improved her so much.

Although, she sucked at genjutsu and Naruto did just that as he trapped her in one. He then sat down and started to count how long she would take to break free from this one. It took about two seconds and Naruto was glad that she had learned, but for some reason she seemed angry right now. Her hair was flowing upwards and if Naruto didn't know any better he'd say that he could see her hair take the shape of the tails of the Kyuubi. He remembered how Kasumi told him that she absolutely hates genjutsu. Kasumi started going through hand seals at a good rate and finished it.

"Suiton: Mizu Peretto" a bullet shaped body of water released itself from Kasumi's mouth and headed towards Naruto who dodged it and threw a couple of kunai at her. He went through hand seals and uttered the name of his jutsu, "Ninpo: Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". Six kunai became 18 as they launched themselves towards Kasumi. She used a Kawarimi and replaced herself with the mightiest item in the elemental nations. A log.

Naruto then felt Kasumi coming towards him and he turned around to grab Kasumi by the wrist as he twisted her arm and held a kunai to her throat.

"I win." Naruto said and Kasumi pouted before she had a trick in her mind and decided to use it. She was going to feel bad about it but she would win.

"Naru kun~" She said with a moan and Naruto immediately faltered and let go of her and red painted blush exploded on his face. His brain stopped working and soon he found himself on the ground with Kasumi on top of him. Now she held the kunai at his throat.

"I win this time Naru." Kasumi said with an infectious grin. Naruto still blushing could not believe he fell for a trick like that. Then again Kasumi maybe the only girl who could use that trick against him.

"That wasn't fair Sumi." Naruto said while looking at the girl who was still hovering over him as he allowed himself to get lost at her appearance.

"Shinobi don't play fair. They believe and apply deception. You said it yourself Naru." Kasumi said as she realized the small distance between them. Naruto in the back of his mind was proud that she had used an underhanded trick to put the situation in her favor. Slowly but surely, both teens were starting to close the distance between their faces. Then Naruto stopped all of a sudden.

"Sasuke's coming here." Whatever moment they were going to have was ruined by the clone dispelling as both of them now had a frown marred on their faces. Naruto was a bit angry because he did tell himself that he was sure he held feelings for Kasumi and he was sure that she also felt somewhat drawn to him. The fact that he found her to be the most beautiful girl he had ever come across certainly did not help the situation either. He did not admit it to her because he was afraid that she would reject him for being like one of her fan boys. Naruto could handle everything, but he was pretty sure he could not bear it if Kasumi refused his friendship because of this development.

Meanwhile Kasumi was angry. She had felt his lips on her forehead and it felt so good to her. She wanted to say something about her budding feelings towards her friend. Unfortunately she too had the same predicament that Naruto was suffering from. I mean, the guy is from the Uchiha Clan and above all else he did not like fan girls at all. Sasuke would ignore his, but Naruto would flat out say no and occasionally glare at them. What if he rejects her altogether and also breaks off their friendship because of the awkwardness that would develop. She however felt that, Naruto too was attracted to her.

"Hn" A annoying grunt came out of nowhere as Naruto and Kasumi finished picking up their ninja tools from the ground. Sasuke Uchiha had arrived with all the might and pride he could muster. The air of arrogance and confidence around him was wickedly blowing. "What were you two doing?"

"Nothing particular Sasuke san." Naruto replied knowing that Kasumi would most likely start their conversation with 'teme' and then blow her metaphorical fuse. "Just a little spar."

"Can the dobe even keep up with you?" Sasuke asked as he had a smirk on his face.

"Teme" Kasumi said while gritting her teeth "you've got some nerve."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted once more "What's wrong dobe? Does the truth sting too much?"

"Sasuke san," Naruto spoke up as he had an annoyed look "why do you keep calling her dobe? I understand you two can't get along but isn't this a tad bit too far for both of you?"

"No" both of them replied and went back to glaring each other. Naruto sighed and simply waited for something to happen. If these two ended up on a team together, that would be one severe dysfunctional team. Somewhere in the Hidden Leaf, an old man smoking a pipe came to a conclusion that he had made the right decisions.

"Naruto." Sasuke said while looking towards said person "Remember that you're an Uchiha. Don't lose the pride of the clan."

"I am an Uchiha. But I am also a shinobi of the leaf. As are you Sasuke san. You'd do well to remember that." Naruto said. Usually he tolerated Sasuke but he was not in the mood for it today.

"What did you say?!" Sasuke yelled as he got angry. "I am the Uchiha Clan Head, branch member. Remember yo-"

"You maybe from the main house Sasuke san" Naruto cut him off " but you are not clan head yet. Not until you become a jounin or you turn seventeen while staying in the Leaf."

"Take that teme!" Kasumi spoke who was happy that Naruto was putting duck butt in his place.

"Naruto." Sasuke said the word as if it was poison on his tongue. "You and that stupid bitch-"

Sasuke felt the air from his body leave and the pressure on his body increasing. 'What is this? I feel suffocated. I can't move.' His vision looked towards Naruto who had a murderous look in his eyes and incidentally had a kunai in his hand. Sasuke had fallen victim to Naruto's killing intent and right now Sasuke had half a mind to kill himself just to make this foreboding feeling go away.

Then the pressure of the killing intent stopped and he saw that Kasumi was hugging Naruto from behind to make him stop. Her arms had slid around his waist, as her chest latched itself onto Naruto's back. Naruto felt a bit calmer. Kasumi too must've been affected by his KI. He looked towards Sasuke with stoic look. Sasuke hated that look. It was the same damn look Itachi had on his face. Naruto's blue eyes seemed absolutely devoid of emotions as it pierced Sasuke's physical frame.

"Sasuke san." Naruto said with a voice hinting no particular tone, his face as blank as it could be. "I highly recommend you do not insult Kasumi like that ever again in my presence. She is very dear to me and I hate it when someone demeans her." He then gently grabbed Kasumi's hand that was on his chest and rubbed it a bit. Her tensed body relaxed a bit as she slowly let go.

"I will see you tomorrow at the Academy Sasuke san. I hope we can move past this little incident. I apologize but please do not instigate me again." Naruto then took Kasumi's hand into his. "Ike Sumi."

"Hai Naru" Kasumi said she lightly smiled. The duo then started to disappear shrink from Sasuke's point of view. Sasuke felt angry.

"Why?" Sasuke asked out loud. "Why does he have someone to lean on... even now? How is he stronger than me? Naruto... Why is Kasumi with you in the first place? What happened between you two?" Sasuke felt some jealousy as he uttered the last sentence. For some reason he did not like the fact that a girl like Kasumi was with Naruto in the first place. Sure she was the dead last, a failure but she seemed to work harder than the average genin and she was pretty too, Sasuke would admit that. Then why was someone like her with someone like Naruto? A member of the branch clan. He left to go resolve his mind. He hated it when he saw those two together. Sasuke decided to train to take his mind somewhere else. Though he knew that it would still bother him later on.

* * *

Naruto's House.

"Why do I have to make it even better?" Kasumi whined to Naruto. She was trying to make a simple storage scroll with the pen. It was frustrating for her because she felt a natural pull towards this art and the fact that Naruto could so easily apply Fuuinjutsu so elegantly made her a bit jealous. She tried doing it again but she felt some sort of block whenever she tried it.

"Hmmmm." Naruto said as he observed the array. It was good but the calligraphy would need to be smoother. A strange idea cracked in his mind as he went back in his room. He came later with a brush and gave it to Kasumi. "Oi Sumi. Try it with this."

His hypothesis was proven correct as Kasumi displayed brilliance with the brush. Hell, she was better at it than him and he was jealous now. 'Maybe it's her Uzumaki blood. I wonder if all Uzumakis are ramen freaks though? Naruto shuddered at the thought. Sure, Kasumi may now have a healthy diet after living with Naruto for two months but she would still have some ramen every day. But, Naruto was smart not to voice it. You never... never mess with Kasumi's ramen. But Naruto was once more brought into reality as her voice reached his ears again.

"Naru!" Kasumi yelled as Naruto focused his vision from the scroll to her as she spoke again, " You really need to stop phasing out of a conversation."

"Yeah. I do do that a lot." Naruto admitted. Apparently it was his family trait. He remembered Shisui and his mother doing that too. There he goes doing that again. "Anyways Sumi. Let's see it then."

Kasumi then placed a fuuma shuriken that Naruto had onto the sealing array and performing three hand seals sealed it into the scroll. Her Fuinyu no Jutsu was a success. She was jumping up and down after Naruto told her that she was a master of Level One. Then Naruto immediately placed a larger scroll in front of her. She stopped in the middle of a pose and looked at the scroll with deadpan expression.

"And now we can begin Level Two." Naruto said with one of his sadistic smiles. Kasumi paled and lost all color in her face. The last time he smiled like that was when he left her in the Forest of Death a month ago. He called it Survival Training. No genin should ever have to go through that ever. At the same time, Old Man Sarutobi sneezed as he thought he had another great idea in his mind.

"Umm Naru can we take a brea-"

"First rule of Naruto's training!" Naruto immediately cut her off and she waved her hands around in the air comically.

"Hai! Hai! Let's begin Level Two!" Kasumi said immediately. Training was the only thing that Kasumi feared about him. Other than that, she pretty much had Naruto wrapped around her finger.

* * *

Higurashi Weapon Store.

Kasumi was squealing in delight as she saw Sounga bring her blade from the back room. The sheath of the blade was white with red Uzumaki swirls on it. The guard of the blade had a flower like shape as the handle was white and black. Slowly, Kasumi started to unsheathe her blade. It was shining as the stars in her eyes shone even brighter. Then the full view of the blade came. The blade itself was made of chakra inducing metal. The color of the blade was silver and seemed as if it could cut if you look to hard at it. The length of the blade was exactly 60 cm, the standard size that had come to pass for many generations.

In addition to that Naruto had also placed orders for several customized chakra metal kunai for both him and Kasumi. She took all of it as she kept bowing her head to Sounga for bringing such great gifts to her life. Sounga couldn't help but sweat drop at her actions and chuckled at the same time. Sounga Higurashi's mind was just as sharp as his weapons. This was the same man who had made the custom kunai for Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and made the katana for Kushina Uzumaki, the Crimson Death.

He knew exactly who Kasumi really was. Imagine his surprise and joy when Kasumi had entered his shop along with a friend to order a katana. Nostalgia had hit him with full force, as he remembered two of his customers and friends. He had promised himself that he would get Kasumi one of the best katana he could bring. But the main surprise came when he found out that her friend was one of the last two Uchiha in the Village.

Naruto Uchiha. The boy seemed to be unlike most Uchiha. He had immediately proven this when he smiled. The only Uchiha he ever saw smiling were old man Kagami and Naruto's family. He knew that the boy was also treated like a pariah initially but it seemed that like his family before him, he too was different from all the Uchiha. But the proved himself to be a true enigma when he made an order that Sounga never thought he would get. A Gunbai.

Said Gunbai was now in Naruto's hands as he observed the Gunbai. It was white in color with a black outline and had three blue tomoe at each inner corner on the ends. He checked every nook and corner. It was perfect. There was a chain mail attached to it as well. Naruto took it out back and tried to channel some wind chakra through it. A great gust of wind broke through and shredded some small bushes nearby. He then observed the sturdiness of the Gunbai as he repeatedly stabbed the kunai with wind chakra laced across it. Not a single dent.

It was perfect. Apparently the Gunbai itself was especially crafted as Muramasa Seijuro, the man who forged all their weapons, had sent a letter to Sounga explaining that this Gunbai was one of a kind. It was carved from a unique spirit tree, which itself was rare these days, from which ritualistic instruments are made.

Next came the Kusarigama. The kama blade it self was made of chakra metal and just like his ordered specification, the chain attached to it could be removed and there was no added weight or sharp weapon at the end. Naruto had planned to use it as both a kama and then attach the chain at the end to his Gunbai once he got good at it. Naruto was testing it out as well as he could. He did not have any practice with any weapon and noted that he should send about 40 clones to work on it. He didn't want to lose too much energy as he knew that Kasumi would be wanting to learn kenjutsu. Speaking of kenjutsu, Sounga then gave Naruto his katana.

The sheath was black. The guard was a shade of color that resembled both grey and blue. The handle of the blade was black and dark purple completely being immersed into each other. Naruto slowly started to unsheathe his blade just like Kasumi. His blade itself was pitch black but noticed something very unique about it. There was a slight tint of red on the sharp edge. It seemed to absorb the light surrounding the place as if it wanted to be unleashed upon it's enemies and spill the blood while losing it's purity. The blade itself was around 70 cm. One thing that this blade had in common with Kasumi's is that both were much more heavier than conventional katana.

Sounga then handed them four large scrolls. It seemed that Muramasa Seijuro, the Master of Weapons, the man who forged the two blades had sent two sword styles in scrolls as well. In his letter, Muramasa explained that he had fallen in love with the two katana he had forged and considered both of them his finest works so he had sent two sword styles that he thought would be perfect for the two swords. He was also the one who personally made the Gunbai and kusarigama. He had also sent scrolls on those saying that not many people use a Gunbai anymore, and he was happy making such a weapon and the kusarigama scroll was an added bonus.

Kasumi had immediately named her sword Ginken. Naruto on the other hand decided to name his Hitokiri. Receiving their blades, weapons and scrolls they paid for their items and got a pretty good discount too, despite the good amount of money that had been spent.

* * *

Hours Later, Naruto's House Backyard.

Both Naruto and Kasumi were training with their weapons. Both had their katana in hand and were practicing the starting katas for their swords. Much to his surprise and disappointment, Kasumi was picking up kenjutsu faster than he was. Seriously, she was starting to get a head start on Naruto and he couldn't help but be happy at Kasumi's progress. It seemed that she would be undoubtedly better than him with kenjutsu and eventually when the time came, she would surpass him in fuuiinjutsu. After hours of practicing they had dinner and were sitting in the drawing room. Naruto's clones made it back with the Gunbai and kusarigama, which Kasumi had named Haohmaru and Shikyoh. The clones dispelled and Naruto and he received the knowledge from his clones. He was smiling a bit as he saw that he had some sort of natural talent towards the Gunbai and kusarigama.

(AN: A cyber cookie made of ones and zeroes to those who can figure out the origin of the names without Google-ing it. Make sure you answer in the review.)

"Say Naru," Kasumi asked as she was devouring a cup of instant ramen who was content to being eaten in such a gruelling fashion. "Who do you think we'll end up with?"

"That'll be hard to say considering there's an odd number now. It might so happen that we might end up in a team of four along with Sasuke." Naruto said in a calm manner.

"EHH?!" Kasumi exclaimed as she had wide eyes and a large tick mark on her head. "Why do we have to be on that teme's team?!"

"Well. That's because I'm the only one Sasuke gets along with." Naruto stated. "So it's only reasonable that they put me on the same team as him. Also, they always pair up the worst and best student. Considering that you passed the last in chronological order, you will be placed on a team with me and Sasuke."

"Okay but can you tell me why you try to be nice to that teme?" Kasumi asked. She saw that Naruto had always tried to be kind with Sasuke and even smiled around him to lift his mood a bit. But the Emo King would never let his shell of indifference crack.

"Well. That's because I owe his mother a lot." Naruto said with a sad smile as he remembered Mikoto obaa chan. "After kaa chan died, she was basically my mother in all but blood. She used to visit me every day and even cook for me even though I knew how to. I had a bad fever once and she stayed her for three days straight along with Sasuke. Even he was nice back then, but he still kept me at an arm's length. I don't blame him though. Fugaku ojii san was a strict man."

"You never told me that." Kasumi said. Sasuke's mother sounded like such a nice person. Why couldn't the emo be more like his mom?

"Well you never asked." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head. "That is why I want to help Sasuke. He wasn't so broody before and ever since Itachi nii..." Naruto hesitated as he remembered his older brother figure and the sacrifice he chose to make to keep this village safe. For a moment, just a moment hatred lurked deep inside Naruto but it stopped as he felt Kasumi look at him with her piercing violet eyes.

"Kasumi that is why I am asking you. If we do end up on a team with Sasuke please try to get along with him a bit... for me." He finished it as he tilted his head.

"Okay..." Kasumi said with a whine. Then she had a cheerful expression on her face as she spoke again. "At least you'll be there Naru. I really don't want to be on a team with anyone else."

"The same is for me Sumi." Naruto said with a smile as a pink color splattered across Kasumi's cheeks. "But, I wonder who our third teammate will be?"

"Anyone but Ino!" Kasumi yelled. "She's always trying to push herself on you! That stupid flat chest-"

"Kasumi!" Naruto exclaimed. "What did I say about cursing?"

"*grumbles* Sorry" Kasumi said as she had a cute pout on her face.

"You know you look cute when you do that." Naruto said. This was going to be payback for today morning. It worked as Kasumi was slowly taking the steps to enter tomato mode.

"N-Naru! Don't say things like that!" Kasumi said out loud as redness began to change the color of her creamy light skin.

"No not cute." Naruto said as his face slowly leaned a bit towards Kasumi's, but there was still some distance between their noses "You look... _beautiful Sumi chan._ " He said the last part with a husky voice.

The atomic redness exploded as she instinctively slapped Naruto away who crashed behind the couch they were sitting on. She then started to worry as she had supposedly killed her Naruto again and began to violently shake him to wake him up. But then noticed another thing. He had fallen asleep. He had always made the meals and never let her do chores most of the time. He also took the time to train her and pick up his own training. She knew that he had sent his clones to train in the forest. Naruto also had some secrets which he kept hidden from her.

Kasumi didn't mind. Every person is entitled to their own secrets. She knew how much pain he had gone through from losing his family and his clan. But he never showed the pain to anyone. Only Kasumi knew how much sadness and grief repressed themselves in those eyes of his. As Kasumi tried to pick him up she felt the tone of his body and blushed as her fingers slowly traced the muscles of his body over his shirt. He was really well toned. It wasn't overly bulky, neither was he scrawny like Sasuke. His body seemed in balance between the two. She couldn't help but remember the time when she saw him shirtless. It felt so wrong and right at the same time.

'Bad Kasumi! He helps you and trains you! All you want to think about is what he looks like naked? I mean shirtless?! I mean... ughh! Damn you Ayame nee chan!'

She picked him and saw that he was much heavier than he lets on, his speed stated otherwise. Kasumi took off her weights first and then took Naruto to his bedroom. He placed him on his bed and placed the sheets over him. The lights were off and the pale moonlight was making it's presence known in the room. It glowed off Naruto's face as his raven hair seemed to have a contrast look compare to the dim shine that was there. He looked so calm and peaceful right now. Kasumi stood there and watched with her violet eyes. She was looking at the person who saved her dignity and took her in while asking for nothing in return. He wasn't even snoring. Kasumi lightly traced his cheeks as she sat down on her knees beside the bed.

"Naru kun." Kasumi said knowing full well that Naruto was asleep. She could never say this to him while he was awake. "Always pushing yourself so much so I don't have to worry. *sigh* What did I do to deserve your help? You're too kind to me. Sweet dreams. My Naru kun."

Kasumi leaned forward as she kissed his cheek and to her delight, Naruto gave a light smile in his sleep. The smile on his face made blood rush to her cheeks as she realized what she had done. The last time she had kissed him was two months ago. When he held her tightly. It was the best feeling she had ever felt. She felt complete. She changed into her cute pink pajamas and let the sweet embrace of sleep take her into the blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

Konoha Academy.

All the graduates had arrived and were seated in the benches. All the clan heirs and heiresses were sitting down with the civilian children. All except two. Then the door slid open and two teens walked in.

Naruto and Kasumi.

Immediately there was deafening silence echoing throughout the room. Then one ... two audible gasps later the glass broke as the fan boys and fan girls yelled out their surprise. One shared thought. One single word. One word that made perfect sense in their minds at the moment.

"NAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Naruto and Kasumi both sighed together as they went down and sat down with Hinata Hyuga. Apparently the girl had gained some confidence since the graduation and lost some of her stuttering as she talked with her friend Kasumi and her classmate Kasumi.

"Why is Kasumi chan with Naruto?!"

"Damn that Naruto!"

"Naruto kun *sob* Et tu?"

"That lucky bitch."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at their reactions. Even Ino Yamanaka was loudly expressing her shock. She then claimed that Kasumi was her rival in love. Whatever the hell that meant. But it was Sakura Haruno, who was sitting with Ino and Sasuke Uchiha (much to his ire), who asked the question of the day.

"Kasumi baka!" Sakura screeched. "Why are you here? Only those who pass the exams are allowed to be here?"

"Talk to the head band banshee!" Kasumi exclaimed as she pointed to her hitai ate. "I was allowed to take the exams again and I passed because they mixed up my exam papers." A good lie. Naruto had taught her to lie a good deal as well. Apparently she was good at it too.

"Oi Kasumi chan" Kiba said with an eager voice. "Want to go out with me?"

"*sigh*" Kasumi then gave a sweet smile that all the boys shuddered at, Naruto and Sasuke included. "Do you want to die Kiba?"

"N-no!" Kiba said as he backed off. He then glared at Naruto who was simply staring off into the front but sneaked a glance at him and gave a smile. A smile that made Kiba and the fanboys even more angry.

"Naruto!" Kiba roared. "Why did you come here with Kasumi chan?! Did you follow her?!" The fan boys also rose in support. Kasumi was going to say something, but Naruto decided to speak up first. He wanted to make sure nobody bothered him about this again.

"I didn't Kiba" Naruto paused. He was going to drop a bomb on them. "You see... Kasumi lives with me now. So we go and do everything together." He said the last part intentionally as Kasumi blushed and pulled Naruto's ear for saying something like that. But Naruto got what he wanted.

All her fan boys and his fan girls shattered at his words. They lived together and did _everything_ together. So many anime tears were falling to the ground as this statement reverberated throughout their minds. The fact that Kasumi was pulling his ear and arm certainly put more nails into the coffin. Kiba looked a bit comically distraught, but still had hope that she would one day go out with him. He then looked at her and blushed. She was so pretty. But even he had to admit, that Naruto despite being an Uchiha was never arrogant and rude, unlike Sasuke.

Sasuke himself was looking at the situation and was annoyed. For the life of him he did not know why. Maybe because Naruto grew up in a different way. He was always glared at in the clan. His family had brought them shame. But his mother and brother were exceptionally close to him. Now he had Kasumi. A girl who no doubt had potential to be a good kunoichi if their training aftermath was any indication. The truth was that Sasuke wanted someone like Kasumi. Someone strong and kind at the same time. He had the Uchiha Clan to restore and would have to do _that_ to actually do it.

Iruka came in and started his lectures once more. For some reason, he had also cried. Some students cringed at the manly tears which leaked out from his eyes.

"Okay then Team Seven" Iruka said and paused for some time. He read it again and spoke once more. "This is odd. Team Seven. Sasuke Uchiha," the fan girls crossed their fingers and brought out their prayer beads to be on the same team as him.

"Sakura Haruno,-"

"CHA!" Sakura yelled as many ear drums ruptured. "Take that! True love prevails over all!" Sasuke sinked into the ground. Kasumi smirked at his despair. Naruto sighed.

"Kasumi Uzumaki,-"

Many of the fan boys were disappointed. Sakura felt jealous while thinking that a beautiful girl like Kasumi might steal her precious Sasuke kun. Kasumi herself latched onto Naruto and was comically crying on his shoulders while he patted her on the head and sighed once more. The fan boys and Kiba were even more distraught when they saw her latch onto Naruto.

"and Naruto Uchiha." Naruto sighed but redacted the feeling as Kasumi full on hugged him in front of everyone. Now even Sasuke felt jealous at this. But in the back of his mind, for Kami knows what reasons, was starting to think what the situation would look like if he was there instead of Naruto. The fanboys were utterly broken at this sight while the fan girls were holding their shattered hearts. Ino started to wonder that maybe she has a better chance with her other crush Sasuke.

(AN: Rest of the teams are as canon goes.)

All of the genin had left with their respective senseis. Naruto was particularly glad to see two people he recognized. Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi, former classmates and comrades with his eldest brother Obito. Kasumi was still glaring at Naruto because Kurenai had kissed him on the cheek saying he grew up to be such a handsome young man. This resulted in Kasumi pointing a finger at Kurenai and stuttering out useless nothings. She chuckled at her reactions and saw the nervous face Naruto had on his face after that incident. Even Asuma found this entertaining.

Naruto walked up to Sasuke's bench and sat on the opposite seat.

"Sasuke san." Naruto said.

"What do you want Naruto?" Sasuke's tone was neutral.

"Firstly I am sorry for my rash behavior yesterday. I should not have threatened your life." Naruto said. "Since we are going to be on the same team I think we should all try to get along."

"Hn" Sasuke replied. "I don't need a team with those two. You alone are worthy of being my teammate. They are not near my level."

"*sigh* That maybe true Sasuke san. But a tree can only be grow well if it's roots are strong." Naruto replied. "For the sake of our careers as shinobi let's get along with each other. If not, at least tolerate each other." Naruto smiled as he said this.

"You're too soft you know that?" Sasuke asked. Then he asked another thing. One that was completely inappropriate and personal. "Naruto what is Kasumi to you? Why is she living with you?"

"Sasuke san." Naruto said before looking at Kasumi who was reading some notes on Level Two Fuuinjutsu. He smiled at seeing her and Sasuke caught the peaceful look on his face. "She's precious to me. She is my first friend. She is the first person who didn't look at me like I'm an Uchiha. As for why I live with her... Well she used to live alone and honestly I love her company. Excuse me." Naruto got up and made his way towards her and sat down with her.

Sasuke looked down at the ground and thought about what he said. He looked at them again and felt some sort of gut pulling sensation. He wasn't sure what it was but he didn't like it.

* * *

Three Hours Later.

"I'm back." Naruto said as he brought back some food. He bought ramen for himself and Kasumi. Some dango for Sakura and udon for Sasuke, who was glad to see his favorite food.

Their jounin sensei had not arrived and Naruto had pretty much figured who their sensei was. He had heard stories about how his eldest brother Obito was always late and got pulled into situations that dragged him into being late. His only living comrade had decided to honor his memory by being late. Shisui had told him that the teammate had picked up many habits. Naruto then sat down and was having ramen with Kasumi. As the team finished their meal, five more minutes passed before the door slid opened and-"

"Yo" a man with gravity defying silver hair stepped into the room. He was wearing the standard jounin outfit and the hitai-ate on his forehead was pulled down to hide his left eye. He was also wearing a face mask that hid the lower half of his face. A great mystery lied beneath that mask. Naruto knew this person all to well, but even he did not know what his real face looked like.

"YOU'RE LATE !" Sakura screeched much to the dismay of her teammates as the man's lone eye curled up into U shaped smile.

"Sorry about that I was lost on the road of life."

Everyone sweat dropped at his excuse, except one.

"Yeah. That road has too many twists and turns. You can get lost easily" Naruto replied with a smile.

"I'm glad I got a student who understands that experience. Team Seven meet me on the rooftop in 10 minutes." The man disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke got up first with Sakura following him. Kasumi was going to leave but Naruto caught her wrist and she looked back at Naruto. He had a smile on his face and she was curious. Then he kissed Kasumi's cheek as she was flustered and waving her arms in the air. Naruto then poked her other cheek to make her stop.

"Thanks for taking me to my room last night." Naruto said as he went past the door. "and the kiss too!" This came in rather loud as he was nowhere to be seen.

Kasumi raced towards the stairs to go to the roof. She would give him quite a verbal and literal thrashing for that. But she was also smiling.

She liked it when Naruto's lips made contact with her skin.

'I wonder what his lips taste like?'

* * *

 **CUT! And there you go folks. The new chapter done. Phew! 7000+ words in this chapter. Definitely did not expect it to cross that boundary. Oh well! What's done is done. I hope you guys enjoyed the story. And for those guys who are expecting a full on committed relationship between the Naruto and Kasumi, don't worry your wished will come true in... I don't know give me five chapters at most. I'm trying to adjust the story as much as I can to keep it interesting. Then again, this is a romance fanfic so cheesiness shall roam free and cause warm feelings along with kawaaii-ness. Anyways, guys thanks for reading and hit that follow or favorite button if you think this is a good story. Also I urge you guys to review and leave your opinions. You don't know how much I appreciate that.**

 **As always, take care, eat good food, take an hourly break from a screen and just close your eyes to relax. See you in the next chapter people. Ja ne!**


	9. For Genin The Bells Toll and Confessions

**And we are back again with a new chapter on the Uchiha Prodigy. Wow you guys... I really expected you guys to at least I don't try to flame me but you... you stupid people keep giving me good reviews to make me feel warm and giddy inside. It's... it really feels good when you do that and the fact that you're telling me I'm doing good does give me confidence that I am doing the right job. Yup. Thank you guys. Anyways enough wasting everybody's time. Let's get this show on the road. BTW, DragonPony022 you're in for a treat in this chapter, I just hope it lived up to your expectation. You give the largest reviews so ... I thought I should mention this before hand.**

 **PS: For those who are still wondering about the names of the Gunbai and Kusarigama. Haohmaru is based off the character from Samurai Showdown and Shikyoh comes from another video game character from the Last Blade. If you haven't played please do, I feel sad for you guys. Those were good fighting games considering the time it came out.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Konoha Academy Rooftop, Konohagakure no Sato.

The silver haired man was sitting down. His emotions are unreadable and he is not giving off any vibes other than the fact that he is generally lazy. As he is sitting down near the railing, he is holding a book in his hands. The cover of the book is orange and as far as the literary eye in this chapter can see, there seem to be love hearts on it. His lone eye is solely fixed on the book as he flips another page reading the contents of the books as if it is a scroll that holds the keys to world domination itself.

"Oh Akeno chan you naughty girl~" The man with the mask which covers the lower half of his face giggles perversely as he gets himself even more immersed into the orange bounded book that holds the words of a true pervert. If one were to read this book, they would have a perfect visual imagery of the pure smut that had been changed to words. However, that's not all the shinobi was thinking about. He is wondering when the recent team he has been assigned will come here.

As if Kami heard his prayers, two of them had arrived. The raven duck butt haired boy had arrived with the girl who had pink hair. Soon enough two more people arrived. Another boy with spiky raven hair had arrived with a smile on his face while the sun kissed blonde haired girl seemed to be flustered. The man noticed the other two genins' expressions as well. The duck butt haired boy was annoyed and the pink haired girl seemed to be stealing glances at said boy. Closing his smut, he looked to them with an eye smile, as his lone eye curled up into a u shape. How did it happen? I am sorry no one truly knows but know that it did.

"Well. It seems all of your are here then." The man said. "I think all of you should introduce yourselves so I get to know a little bit about you."

The four genin looked at him. Three of them were still bewildered at the fact that this guy had the gall to not only show up late but also make up a such a horrible excuse like that. Now he asked them to introduced themselves. He did not mention as to how they should describe them. The spiky raven haired boy was inwardly smiling at seeing a familiar face after so long. He was glad that the teacher he got was someone he knew. Someone he could trust and considering that left eye of his, he was contemplating as to whether he'll have to use his gift as well.

"Ano sensei." The pink haired girl spoke up. " Could you show us how to do it first? That way we'll how and what we should say."

"Hmmmmm" The man looked down and raised his vision to place them in his. "Okay how about something like this then? My name is Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate. Hmmm. I don't feel like telling you that. As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies."

The genin before him simply sweat dropped at his introduction. All they learned was his name. Naruto too sweat dropped, though not as much as his contemporaries. He had gotten his hands on a bingo book as he had killed one of the hunter nins. The man before them was an A Ranked Shinobi and is known to have over 1000 jutsu at his disposal. Kakashi the Copy Ninja or Kakashi of the Sharingan. The Sharingan resided in Kakashi's left eye. He had lost his original eye and was given the dojutsu wielding eye by his comrade Obito Uchiha so that he could carry on his legacy.

Naruto felt a bit sad remembering Obito. Though he had never met his eldest brother, he had seen him in the Tsukuyomi his mother had often used to show him their complete family including his father Genjuro. He then saw Kakashi speaking up again.

"So that's the gist of it. How about you go first pinky." Said pinky got annoyed by the comment that was directed at her. Still she shrugged it off and complied.

"My name is Sakura Haruno." she said. She then had a very prominent blush on her face as her forehead stretched a bit and her face beamed up at her next words. "What I like is (looks at Sasuke) or more like the person I like is (looks at Sasuke) and my dream for the future is (Looks at Sasuke and squeals)." She then closed her eyes as she squealed a bit more.

Naruto sweat dropped. 'Poor Sasuke san. Of all the people he he was teamed up with the president of his fan club. I hope she gets serious in her life.'

Kasumi looked at her with a deadpan expression. 'Okay even I feel bad for the teme. Heh no I don't! Suffer-ttebayo!' Kasumi then had a smirk on her face.

Sasuke looked like as if someone had reached deep inside grabbed his intestine and wrapped it around his esophagus 'Why Kami why?! We had a deal. I get stronger and I avenge the Uchiha Clan! Why did you get this stupid fan girl on my team?!'

Kakashi looked at this proclamation with a mental sigh. Something was wrong with kunoichi these days. Or maybe it was just in Konoha. Still he braved himself to speak.

"Okay what do you dislike?" At Kakashi's words, Sakura perked up a bit.

"INO PIG AND KASUMI BAKA!" She screeched. Naruto had already put ear plugs on, somehow it was useless against the sheer force of her kekkei genkai. Kasumi too held her ears. Sasuke for his part played it cool but he too was reeling from the effects of the Screech Release. Kakashi was mostly unaffected on his end.

"Okay broody you next." Kakashi said as he looked at Sasuke.

"Hn" Sasuke began his introduction with the Universal Uchiha Grunt. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't particularly like anything and I hate a lot of things. What I have is not a dream, I will make it a reality. I will restore the Uchiha Clan." Sasuke's eyes had unknowingly glanced at Kasumi and made it back to the center "And I will destroy a certain someone along the way."

'Sasuke kun is so hot!' Sakura thought with stars in her eyes.

'He must be talking about Itachi... Wonder why Naru is never obsessed with revenge like him?' A question that Kasumi now pondered. This would be her topic of the day.

Kakashi and Naruto too had caught the words he said along with the sudden change in his vision when he had looked at Kasumi for a fraction of a second.

'So he is obsessed with revenge. That's gonna be a problem.' Kakashi said as his lone eye turned serious to see a change in emotions in Naruto.

'Sasuke san.' Naruto who had an annoyed expression on his face. 'I hope for your sake you don't overstep your boundaries.' Kakashi then decided to diffuse the situation clearly recognizing that Naruto was seeming to be a bit hostile right now. The last thing this team needed was an inside turmoil before it even began.

"Okay Orange Menace why don't you go next?" Kakashi asked. Even the jounin and the ANBU were afraid of the level of pranks that Kasumi could pull off. How did all the Hyuuga have glitters on their kimono is still a question that has to be answered.

"My name is Kasumi Uzumaki-ttebayo!" the blonde haired girl chirped. "I like ramen, training and spending time with Naru". Said person was a bit embarrassed at how Kasumi had just said that sentence and that too with the nickname she had given him. No doubt Sakura would tell Ino and then the shitstorm would start. "I dislike the three minutes it takes to make an instant ramen. I hate arrogant people who think themselves above others." as she gave Sasuke a glare " and people who jump to conclusions about stuff they don't understand about. My hobbies are tasting every sort of ramen that Teuchi jiji makes. And my dream is... To become the Hokage! So that everyone in the village respects me for who I am!" She said as she pumped a fist into the air.

Kakashi eye smiled. He was a bit relieved. 'Well at least one of them is normal... well sort of though a bit too energetic I suppose.' Sasuke scoffed at her proclamation. Sakura was a bit neutral to her statement but dissed it off as nothing but a fancy dream.

Naruto was lightly smiling at Kasumi's dream. It was amazing how cheerful she remained.

"Okay blue eyes it's your turn now." Kakashi said and Naruto was still looking at Kasumi with a smile. He spoke up once more. "Ahem." Kakashi said lazily.

"Oh. Gomen... Did you say something?"

"..."

The birds had stopped chirping. The air was blowing across the rooftop and Kakashi's form was breaking. Inside his heart he was crying with great waterfalls.

'He used my own thing against me!' Somewhere in the Hidden Leaf, a certain green spandex wearing man was proclaiming something about youth and felt happy. A mini clone resembling him decided to join him.

"Sorry about that." Naruto sheepishly chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "My name is Naruto Uchiha. Things I like... well I like training, studying fuuinjutsu and spending time with Sumi." Kasumi grinned at his mention of her. "As for dislikes. Well I dislike power hungry mongrels, perverts and well... people who have proverbial sticks up their asses."

The entire group of people were silent. Kakashi was surprised that he had said it loud, he knew that Naruto had previously mentioned that term before. Sakura was berating and saying he shouldn't speak like that. Sasuke scowled and for some reason felt that the last one was directed to him. Kasumi was confused that he would mention that here. Then again Naruto was an enigma that everyone has not figured out yet.

"As for my hobbies... well I like to train and learn new jutsu so I can protect the village better I suppose. And my dream... Well it's my brother's dream really. I hope to complete it for him and become the first Uchiha to become Hokage. And if not, to make sure that I can help make Kasumi the Hokage." He finished it with a smile.

Kasumi had perked up once more. Sakura was neutral, that's not true she was measuring up Sasuke. Sasuke himself was a bit taken aback by Naruto's stated dream. An Uchiha who wants to become Hokage? Absurd. He then got into thoughts of his own. His goals in life are the only thing that mattered to him more than anything else.

Kakashi merely looked at Naruto and was relieved. He was ashamed of himself to some extent that he could not be there for the little brother of his former comrade. However, it seems that just like his family Naruto too had remained the same and did not let his clan symbol get to his head or influence his heart. He was like both Obito and Shisui. 'Well Obito. It looks like there is someone why will carry on your dream.' He then eye smiled.

"Hmmm. You're an interesting bunch to say the least. Well I won't waste any more time and tell you about your exams tomorrow."

"WHAT?!" Both Sakura and Kasumi screeched / yelled at the same time. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as a frown appeared and Naruto was blankly staring at Kakashi, what no one noticed was that his eyes changed to crimson then back to his bright blue orbs. He was thinking about what sort of test it was going to be.

"But we just graduated the genin exams!" Kasumi said with a tone of both whine and anger. She had just worked her ass off to graduate two months ago now there was another.

"Yeah! Why do we need to give another exam now?!" Sakura asked this time as her forehead pushed past their limits.

"Oh you mean the Academy Exam?" Kakashi then lazily waved his hand. "That was nothing more than a screen. We weeded out those who had the potential to become genin with that. Out of the nine teams that have been formed only three teams will remain. Which means you only have a 33% chance of passing."

"That's not fair." Kasumi whined. She was really looking forward to doing 'ninja stuff' and become Hokage as quickly as possible.

"Well life isn't fair for shinobi. Anyways, you all have Survival Training tomorrow, if you fail you'll be sent back to the Academy. Meet me at Training Ground 7 tomorrow at six in the morning." Kakashi's face then changed into one of grave importance. "Also I suggest you don't eat breakfast. Otherwise you'll puke. Ja ne!" Kakashi then disappeared in a Shunshin.

"I can't believe this!" Sakura screeched. "After all that work in the Academy. What was the point of all that?"

"It's like Kakashi sensei said" Naruto spoke up "it was merely to find out who were truly ready to become genin. Sumi do you want to go for some ramen?"

"HAI!" Kasumi had evidently forgotten all about the Survival Exam looming tomorrow. If ramen was there, nothing could stop her. Not even the Sage of the Six Paths.

"Do you guys want to come with us?" Naruto asked Sasuke and Sakura. Since they were in the same team, he needed to show some courtesy.

"Hn" Sasuke grunted "I have better things to do than eat that starch abomination." Kasumi was going to say something but Naruto cut her off.

"I see. I'll see you later then Sasuke san. What about you Sakura san?" Naruto asked with his blank expression. Kasumi had a pout on her face. Why was he asking her to join them?

"No it's alright I have something else to do." Sakura said refusing the offer.

'Looks like Sasuke is going to be annoyed again.' Both Naruto and Kasumi collectively thought. The duo then made their way away from the team. They were walking side by side. They wouldn't say it but the silence was engulfing them. So Kasumi decided to speak up first.

"So Naru" she said with a pause "will we train today?"

"Not as much as we usually do. We're going to be needing our full strength for the exam tomorrow." Naruto said while pondering if he should bring his new weapons with him tomorrow. He still needed more time before he could execute it. The pace at which he was going was good. Although his bukijutsu with Haohmaru (Gunbai) and Shikyoh (Kusarigama) was better then his kenjutsu with the Hitokiri.

They didn't even notice when they had arrived at Ichiraku's. Both entered at the same time and much to his dismay, Teuchi wasn't around. It was only Ayame and both knew that she would be teasing them today.

"Well if it isn't my favorite couple." Ayame said with an all knowing smile. Both teens immediately blushed at her words.

"OI AYAME NEE CHAN! I told you to stop doing that!" Kasumi said while she took step one into Tomato Mode.

"Hmmm. You said it but Naruto didnt~" Ayame said in a sing song voice.

"Nee san" Naruto had a deadpan expression on his face "you make it sound like you'd stop if I told you to."

"Yeah I wouldn't stop." Ayame said as he looked at them both. "So are you two on the same team?"

"Yup!" Kasumi exclaimed while Naruto nodded.

"Phew!" Ayame mockly rubbed off sweats from her forehead. "Here I thought you two lovers would be separated."

"NEE CHAN!" Kasumi said as the redness of the blush increased and step two was taken.

"Could we have our regulars now please?" Naruto said as a small blush also stained on his cheeks.

"Hai hai. Give me a few minutes Kids these days are no fun." She mumbled as she went back into the kitchen.

Both teens were awkwardly sitting and waiting for their food to come. Naruto was thinking whether he should tell Kasumi how he feels differently towards her. He backed off from those thoughts. It was too soon as he kept telling himself. Little did he know that Kasumi was having the same train of thought. Then they were derailed as Ayame came back with their orders and they ate it heartily. After eating, some little talks and more of Ayame's teasing, the Uchiha and the Uzumaki left the ramen stand and made their way back to the compound.

* * *

Hours Later, Uchiha Clan Training Ground.

"Fuuton: Daittopa!" A great gust of wind emerged from Kasumi's mouth as she stopped the wind jutsu. "How was that?"

"It was better. Looks like you'll be able to use it tomorrow." Naruto then put a hand on his chin. "Though I don't think we should bring our katana tomorrow we need more time with it."

"You're only saying that cause you're not as good as me." Kasumi said with a cheeky grin.

"Says the girl who still can't perfectly hit all her targets with shuriken." Naruto countered.

"Oh yeah? Well then how about the fact that pass out like a girl when I hit only once." Kasumi said getting closer to him.

"Hn" Naruto too got closer to her and spoke "How's that normal Bunshin coming along?"

Their foreheads touched and once more their eyes found each other. An intense contact of eyes were being exchanged. Neither could move. Then fate decided to give them a wedgie as the wind picked up and dusted them in their eyes. Both of them were clutching their eyes to rub off the dust.

"Sumi" Naruto said "there's something I want to tell you."

Kasumi's heartbeat increased. Wait. Was this it? Was Naruto going to say what she thinks he was going to say? Did he too think of her more than a friend? Fifty million questions were bombarding around her head as she was trying to keep her face as normal as possible but ever increasing redness that adorned her cheeks was having the exact opposite effect.

"W-what is it?" Kasumi said lowering her vision. Once again the ground below had become so much more interesting again.

"It's about tomorrow's exam." Naruto said in the most bland voice he had.

The moment was absolutely ruined. Kasumi groaned at the words that left his mouth. Once again reality had trumped reality. However, she also felt a bit relieved for some reason. Why? Because she herself was not sure of what she had to do once that ship sailed.

(AN: Get it **SHIP**?)

"What about it?" Kasumi asked while her face looked disappointed.

"Kakashi sensei _suggested_ that we do not have breakfast. He didn't say we had to." Naruto said and the idea metaphorically dawned on Kasumi.

"Oh? That's right-ttebayo!" Kasumi exclaimed. "First he's late then he misleads us. Why I oughta.."

"Speaking of lateness." Naruto spoke once more. "He told us to come at six. I think we should go at eight."

"What if she shows up early? And then he thinks about making us fail cause we weren't on time?!" Kasumi said as she was comically tearing up.

"Don't worry about that." Naruto said while smiling at her expression. "If what I'm guessing is right then he should be around three hours late just like today.

"Okay." Kasumi then fidgeted with the end of her sleeves and looked at Naruto who was simply looking up at the sky with a far off look. For a fraction of a moment she caught that painful look in his eyes. Overtime, she had realized that even though it had been many years since the Massacre Naruto was still affected by it.

Naruto sighed and was conjuring his own thoughts. 'Whatever happens tomorrow... I just hope we make it through. I'm not fighting for myself anymore. I have someone now.' Naruto then smiled at the thoughts that had entered his mind. If someone had told him all those years ago right after the Massacre that he would living and completely enamored by a girl he would've laughed his ass off at such words. But now, it was really hard for him to imagine his life without her.

He looked down at the ground mentally noting to himself that somewhere in heaven, his mother and Miko Obaa chan must be having the time of their lives seeing his current predicament.

"Ike Sumi." He said while looking at her. She had immediately moved her vision once he looked at her. She was fidgeting the ends of her sleeves. Something was up. "Is everything alright Sumi?"

"Hai." She replied quickly. "Let's go home." She ran off towards the house all on her own. He merely bobbed his head at her antics. She was a mystery that he could never fully understand.

* * *

Training Ground 7, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto and Kasumi were walking side by side. They were wearing their usual gear and were near close proximity with each other. Both were armed to the teeth. Kunai, shuriken, fuma shuriken, tanto, ninja wires, explosive tags and for some reason a frying pan as well. Naruto had sealed Haohmaru and Shikyoh on to his wrists. It was just a precaution, one he hoped he would not have to take. However, this was Kakashi Hatake they were dealing with and knew that it would not be easy under any circumstance. They soon arrived at their designated location, and Naruto was glad he had his earplugs on. However, earplugs are useless against Sakura Haruno's Screech Release.

"KASUMI BAKA! YOU'RE LATE!"

Naruto pulled out the ear plugs noticing that it was completely useless. He'd let Kasumi handle this round with Sakura. Honestly, the girl had amazing chakra control because of her small pools, and probably had the best potential among all the civilians who decided to become shinobi. But for the life of him, he could not figure out why she was a fan girl. So much potential being absolutely wasted over a boy who does not even give her a time of the day. Speaking of the boy, Naruto saw Sasuke glooming and dooming in the corner of the tree, so that the shade of the branches enhance the emoness he represented. He went up to him and greet his fellow clansman.

"Sasuke san." Naruto said with a light smile.

"Naruto" Sasuke greeted back. Sasuke Uchiha was a strange one. He would only respect you if you had power. Naruto had shown that he did have it when he unleashed his killing intent upon him. However that did not mean he liked Naruto. "Why are you late?" He said with a frown.

"I assumed that Kakashi sensei would be late so..." Naruto shrugged his arms. He was a lot more cheerful these days.

"Hn." Sasuke gave the best reply he knew. After a few seconds of awkward silence Naruto decided to go sit down and study a bit about fuuinjutsu. Level Six was by no means easy and if it was hill before, the rest of the path to Level 10 was a mountain to be scaled.

Naruto and Kasumi had arrived exactly two hours late so after another hour of waiting their teacher had arrived. He lazily waved his hands at the four would be genin.

"You're late!" Sakura once more screeched. The rest of the genin couldn't help but think as to why she has to be so damn loud all the time.

"Sorry there was an old lady who needed help with her heavy bags and I had to carry it for her all the way to her home." Kakashi was expecting another round of face faulting and sweat drops. Much to his dismay all three genin shot their looks towards Naruto who simply looked back at them.

"See. I'm not the only one this stuff happens too." Naruto replied in a matter of fact fashion. He still remembers how he had to help Generic Old Woman #1 all those years ago when he started his first day at the Academy.

"So there is a kindred spirit out there. Tell me has a black cat ever crossed your path and you had to take the long way around?" Kakashi asked while giving an eye smile. Naruto was quiet and trying to remember.

"Yup." Naruto honestly replied while nodding his head to add emphasis to his testament. "Had to walk all the way around from the Naka Shrine when I was five. I hope I never meet that cat again."

Everyone around them sweat dropped. 'What's going on?' Their similarities in making excuses was almost symmetrical. Kakashi satisfied with his answers brought out three bells. Naruto immediately sighed at the sight of those bells. The genin exam for teams that were exceptional. However, Naruto was confused right now. From what he heard and learned the test including bells was about teamwork. It always had two bells, and now there were three. Add the fact that there had never been four man genin team in Konoha's history before and the end result is a very confused Naruto Uchiha who was not sure how this exam would go. Kakashi then brought out an alarm clock and placed it on one of the of the wooden poles. He set the alarm.

"Okay you all have 'till noon to get these bells from me." He showed the four teens the bells before tying them to the lower end of his flak jacket.

"But sensei," Sakura spoke up "there are four of us and only three bells. What happens if we don't get a bell?"

"Very astute of you Sakura." Kakashi said "The person who does not get a bell will be weeded out and sent to the Academy. After all there never has been a four man team in Konoha's shinobi history."

All the would be genin had nervous and curious looks on their faces. Kakashi seeing that his words had the effect he desired, continued.

"One more thing. Come at me with the intent to kill. Only then will you have a silver of a chance to defeat me." He said as he was preparing to give them a final instruction. "Okay get ready. Now disperse." All four teens disappeared from their spots and hid themselves across the forest.

* * *

"Kuso." Naruto muttered as he looked for the rest of the genin team. He was honestly confused at Kakashi's words. The Bell Test had always been about teamwork and Naruto would've gone with that endgame too, had Kakashi not mentioned one very irrefutable fact.

There has never been a four man squad in Konoha's history. It was always three genin and one jounin. Even the ANBU Black Ops had followed this procedure. Naruto was trying to wrap his head around the complicated situation he was placed into. Will one of them truly go back to the Academy? Deciding to gamble with fate, Naruto looked for the team. He would go with his original theory. He found Sakura and decided to speak with her. After explaining the situation, she let her stubbornness outweigh her rationality, Naruto was pretty sure he heard her muttering something about 'Sasuke kun' and something about true love. He was not sure. Now he was looking for Sasuke who he found, calmly observing Kakashi who was standing reading his smut in the middle of the clearing.

"Sasuke san." Naruto spoke quietly. "We need to talk."

"About what?" Sasuke said with an annoyed voice as his vision was focused on Kakashi Hatake.

"I think this test it about teamwork." Naruto said "If we're going to pull this off then all of us need to wor-"

"Hn." Sasuke looked towards Naruto with a glare. "You might need help. I was born in the Main Uchiha Clan. I am en elite. I don't need anyone's help. Nor will I ever need it."

Naruto sighed. There was no point in continuing this conversation and Naruto merely left and started to look for Kasumi. Hopefully she was nearby and well hidde-

"Alright Kakashi sensei!" Kasumi exclaimed as she stood in front of Kakashi. She then rushed towards him with the modified taijutsu style that Naruto had taught her. It was a bastaridized version of many taijutsu styles if Naruto was honest. He had firstly noted the large chakra reserves that Kasumi had. Combine that with her absurd amount of Shadow Clones she could summon he devised a taijutsu style that depended on heavy blows and Clone cooperation. It would be a combined effort. He called this style the Legion Taijutsu, as a nod of respect to the Shadow Clones being used. Of course that did not mean that he didn't teach her a singular taijutsu style.

Naruto knew that she could not learn the Uchiha Interceptor Fist, as it is a quick paced game of patience. It can only be fully mastered if you have a completely matured Sharingan, and those who become true masters of that don't even need the Sharingan unless desperate times arrive. He noticed that Kasumi had launched several shuriken at Kakashi who had merely caught them. Kasumi then got in close range and engaged him in taijutsu. She had engaged him with the style Kasumi called Uzuken after her name. To anyone it would seem brutish and nothing more than a brawler's way of dragging out a fight, in reality it was different.

It was supposed to look like a flailed style and the blows that came with it were rather heavy and always seemed to aim for critical points. It seemed that Kakashi too had picked up on it and was paying more attention.

However two months of training can only get you so far. But still, considering what Kasumi was during the Academy she had greatly increased her potential. The Memory Relay System of Kage Bunshin was truly a wonder to behold. Kasumi then started using the Legion Style and this was when Kakashi had to put away his book and engage her in taijutsu to a lesser extent. She was summoning clone after clone, one aided as a distraction while two more would try to hit at the same time with the original. It was annoyingly distracting and Kasumi would've gotten a hit but was thrown into the river.

Seconds after she emerged with a battalion of Shadow Clones. Naruto was simply observing how she would handle the situation. Kasumi then started threw several kunai and performed handseals. Six kunai turned into twenty all lunging for Kakashi was planning to Kawarimi at the last second, however Kasumi instead used Fuuton: Daittopa to increase the speed of the kunai. Kakashi dodged them all via a last second kawawrimi. He then appeared via Shunshin and took care of all of Kasumi's clones. They engaged in taijutsu but noticed that Kasumi was smirking. There was a an explosive tag on her chest.

'SHIT!'

Kakashi jumped away at the last second and saw that Kasumi had emerged from the water. He had been fighting clones ever since she was thrown into the water. She went through hand seals and finished her jutsu.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!"

Kasumi expelled a jet of water at Kakashi who raised a Mud Wall to deflect the water that was rushing towards him. He was smiling inwards. He had heard how Kasumi was staying with Naruto and he was quite skeptical of the situation. Now however, she was showing how much she had improved from her Academy reports. But it seems that Kasumi was not done as she started to do more hand seals. She had seen Naruto pull off this jutsu before and carefully copied all the hand seals. Since she had a strong water affinity she would be able to do it.

"Suiton: Taihoudan!"

A stream of water emerged from Kasumi's mouth and shot towards the user's target. Kakashi to his credit had done the right thing and Shunshinned away. He then appeared once more and this time he had put Kasumi down on the ground who had managed to touch one of the bells during the scuffle. In all honesty he was impressed at what Kasumi had done. This girl was definitely ready to be a genin. However, the true purpose of his test was not being met at the moment.

As he held her down, a barrage of shuriken and kunai was lauched towards the duo. Both shinobi had kawarimi-ed to avoid the incoming weapons. It was done by Sasuke Uchiha who was now moving on to a different location since his current one was compromised. Naruto was annoyed at Sasuke now. What if he had hit Kasumi? Sure, even Naruto knew that she'd be able to make an escape but hey he cared about her more than anyone else at the moment. He'd be giving Sasuke a talk after all this. Looking for the signature he found her as she for some reason was hanging upside down from the branch of a tree, her foot yanked by a ninja wire.

"Sumi" Naruto asked "how did this happen?"

"Well" Kasumi blushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of her head "there was a bell lying around and I decided to reach for it. Kakashi sensei later came and took away the bell in the heat of it all-ttebayo."

Naruto sighed and threw a kunai to cut the wire. She could've landed normally on the ground, after all she had learned to walk on water to some extent and was getting that down. But Naruto decided to catch her as he jumped and grabbed her, placing her in a bridal position. She blushed and was trying to look away. Naruto for some reason failed to see the importance of the hold as he was distracted by the dying whaling of a banshee.

"Sakura."

Both teens muttered at the same time. Naruto looked towards Kasumi and had an idea in mind.

"Let's go Kasumi." Naruto said and both took off towards the direction the scream came from. They found Sakura unconscious on the ground. She was hit with a genjutsu, which was funny because she should be the last person here that would be affected by a genjutsu.

"Kasumi." Naruto said "You know how to release a genjutsu right?" Kasumi nodded. "Okay then here's the plan."

* * *

Kakashi had just buried Sasuke into the ground. Literally. Though he was not dead, far from it Sasuke was pissed. He had engaged Kakashi in single combat and he too had managed to graze one of the bells. He had even used Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu, which surprised Kakashi because the genin of this generation were rather weaker compared to the times they had grown up in. But still, Kakashi had later user the Headhunter Jutsu as Sasuke's entire body from below the neck was underground. Kakashi was getting honestly bored. He kept walking until he saw that Naruto was calmly sitting down in a clearing waiting for him. He even had his eyes closed. Naruto's form was completely relaxed.

"Well this is interesting." Kakashi said as he neared Naruto.

"I was waiting for you sensei." Naruto replied opening his eyes "Since everybody else got a shot in, I figured what the hell." Naruto got up and took the Uchiha Interceptor Fist stance.

Then to Kakashi's surprise Naruto arrived at low chunnin speeds and engaged Kakashi in taijutsu. Some of his blows actually reached Kakashi as his shoulders, fore arms and knees got hit by Naruto. Kakashi was now sure that Naruto was the strongest genin in the village right now. It seems that Naruto was hiding his ability. He was far beyond Sasuke's level. The way he fought and kept dodging would make anyone believe that the boy is an experienced chunnin. Naruto unsheathed a kunai and held it in reverse grip. He engaged Kakashi was also using a kunai. Then he noticed that his kunai was slowly getting chipped as the nicks became more and more prominent. A small layer of blue chakra surrounded Naruto's kunai.

'Wind laced chakra'

Kakashi thought as he figured out that Naruto was adding his wind affinity to the chakra inducing kunai. After a few more scuffles, Naruto was grabbed by the wrist and his left arm was twisted all the way to his back.

*BOOM*

'Naruto' had exploded. Kakashi had gotten away but his body had some smoke lining him up.

'The kid knows Bunshin Daibukha. What else does he know?'

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Naruto answered Kakashi's questions in a sort of way as bright orange fireballs emerged from Naruto's mouth and were seeking to burn Kakashi. No longer feeling the need to hold back, did his own hand seals and performed Suiton: Mizu Oni Kuike. The water from the lake nearby emerged to form a head with large fangs as it swallowed the fireballs that aimed for him. However, shuriken emerged from the resulting steam. It seemed that Naruto had hidden them in the fire balls as the reached Kakashi. He deflected them all with the kunai. Then the alarm bell rang.

"Well looks like it's noon now and I guess wil-"

*CHIME*

Kakashi looked at Naruto's hand as he held a bell. He noticed that the third bell at his waist was disappearing.

"Genjutsu. When?"

"Yesterday." Naruto said with an Uchiha smirk "At the rooftop. Can't believe it actually worked."

Kakashi simply looked at Naruto curiously. Kakashi had not noticed a time dependant genjutsu was placed on him. He felt a bit annoyed. A genin had placed one on him. Then again, he did notice that Naruto's eyes turned crimson for a moment. He thought it was his imagination, but now that the genjutsu was recognized, he knew for a fact that Naruto had the Sharingan and was very good at it. He must have used it again during the steam rose and released the genjutsu.

"Very clever. Congratulations you get a bell and your teammates will go back to the Academy." Naruto flinched a bit at the tone of Kakashi. It sounded both annoyed and angry.

* * *

"I'm disappointed in all of you. None of you except Naruto managed to get the bells." Kakashi said. Sasuke was gritting through his teeth as he glared at Naruto for outshining him. This time Naruto stared back with emotionless, ice blue eyes. It was the perfect counter to the glare being directed at him.

"It seems all of you managed to fail to see the true purpose of this exam." Kakashi said.

"Weren't we supposed to get the bells?" Sakura asked as she was tied to a pole.

"Yes. But did you think that you could get a bell from me? A jounin? The only reason that Naruto got a bell from me in the first place was because of sheer luck." Kakashi said and Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the complete lack of respect to his abilities was dished out.

"Then what was the point of his stupid exam?!" Sasuke asked now visibly annoyed, his metaphorical fuse ready to blow.

"Teamwork." Naruto was the one who gave the answer. "This test was all about teamwork. That's why I approached both you and Sakura. You refused. It was later that I distracted Kakashi sensei so that Kasumi could free you guys and we work together to get the bells from him. You did the exact opposite as you berated her bringing such an idea." He said all of this without any tone of emotion. Even Kasumi flinched at his tone.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. But the fact remains that one of you will go back to the Academy." Kakashi then handed Sasuke and Kasumi each a bento box. "You tried to get the bells so eat up and we'll continue the session afterwards. None of you are to give your lunch to Sakura. If you do I will fail you all. There has always been a three man squad throughout Konoha's history. Do well to remember that." Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura looked down in shame as she practically did nothing. Her thoughts were soon broken as she felt the ropes tying her loosen and then drop. Kasumi had cut them off with her kunai and handed Sakura her bento box.

"Here." Kasumi said with a whine. "I ate some of it you can have the rest. I did have breakfast."

"B-But why are you giving it to me?" Sakura asked. "Kakashi sensei said not to-"

"It's because you'll slow us down" Sasuke spoke up this time.

Sakura took the bento box and looked at Kasumi who was looking rather neutral to it all.

"Arigato." Sakura genuinely said it.

"It's alright." Kasumi said. "I'll keep watch" Kasumi suddenly ran forward and Naruto realized what was going on.

"Sumi wait!"

Suddenly an intense killing intent filled the training ground. Even Naruto was sweating. It was really heavy. Kakashi appeared and Kasumi was lying on the ground. Left arm held in Kakashi's vice grip as he had a kunai very near to her throat. Her right hand was stretched forward as if she was calling for help. Naruto tried to go straight but Kakashi's words acted like a wall.

"Not a step forward Naruto!" Kakashi said as the murderous look in his eye increased. "Now I told you all to not give Sakura lunch. You disobeyed my orders Kasumi!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi barked as his grip on her increased and she let out a painful muffle. Naruto was thinking how to get her out, regardless of consequences. "Kill Sasuke and Sakura! Or Kasumi dies!"

"Nani?!" Naruto said as his own Sharingan activated. All three tomoe were there. All three of them had noticed this and the secret was out. "You want me to kill my clansman and my comrade?! Are you fucking insane?!"

Both Sakura and Sasuke were taken aback by his words. He had never really spoken to them unless it was absolutely necessary. Did he truly feel a strong sense of comradeship towards them? Both felt a little guilty at his sudden outburst.

"Yes." Kakashi said as he neared the kunai towards Kasumi's throat. "Only three will make it as a team. One of them has to go."

A drowning silence flooded the training ground as Naruto was thinking about his options. Mangekyou Sharingan? Maybe but would he be able to beat Kakashi? Experience often outweighs many things. How could he save Kasumi and the others? How? HOW?! Then the answer clicked in his mind. His Sharingan deactivated. He brought a kunai to his hand. Sasuke was a bit afraid now, Naruto had the Sharingan and right now Sasuke knew he was no match for him. Sakura was afraid of how his eyes had changed and now he drew a kunai. Kasumi was tearing up. Was he going to kill them for her? Sure they weren't always nice to her but to kill them seemed so...

"Only three will remain. One of them has to go." Naruto closed his eyes and opened them. He looked at Kasumi and his eyes immediately were filled with regret and pain. "I'm sorry Sumi. There were so many things I wanted to do. So... so many things I wanted to tell you... But it looks like... Kami has other plans."

He looked at his comrades now.

"Don't worry. None of you are going to die." Naruto looked at Kakashi and back to Kasumi again. "I will be the one to go. I'm sorry Sumi" He said with a heavy voice and mouthed something to her that she understood as her eyes widened. He then reverse gripped the kunai and was bringing it down in a arc towards his chest. Memories began to fade as time slowed down.

His mother Satsuki. The illusions she showed them of his father and eldest brother Obito. The times he spent with Shisui. Itachi and Mikoto visiting him. And finally Kasumi. From the day he met her at the ramen store to this morning. Every single moment he spent with her was flooding his mind. One picture however was dominating it over the rest. When he held her body tightly against his frame and reached down to kiss her forehead when she had kissed him on his cheek.

"Naruto stop!" Sasuke yelled.

"Please stop!" Sakura yelled as well

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The kunai had stopped at Kasumi's scream. Naruto felt things pulling his arms. His chakra felt like it was being drained. Three chains were preventing him from committing seppeku. Three great golden chains that emerged from Kasumi's right hand. Kakashi had gotten off her as the chains retracted and Kasumi slammed into his chest. He felt so relieved when she made it back to him. She wasn't saying anything. She was whimpering as she tightly clutched him for dear life. Her grip was far too strong.

"All of you...pass!" Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"WHAT?!" Sasuke and Sakura yelled in bewilderment. Even Naruto looked at him while tightly wrapping his arms around Kasumi.

"You see I would have stopped Naruto either way. But you four showed the true meaning of comradeship in those exact moments. You showed that you truly cared about your comrades. Here is a lesson that I will teach all of you never forget it." Kakashi paused before resuming. "Those who abandon the rules are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are even worse than scum." The three genin nodded. "Well Kasumi! Looks like you awakened a rare Kekkei Genkai!"

She didn't reply.

"Uzumaki Kongo Fusa" Naruto said as he smoothly traced her sun kissed blonde hair with red streaks, which he loved with his hand, "I never thought I'd see it in my life."

"Well it's official Team Seven begins it's official missions from tomorrow. Oh and sorry Kasumi but I would've stopped Naruto in time. So don't worry about it. Ja ne!" Kakashi disappeared in smoke once more.

"Naruto" Sasuke and Sakura said.

"It's alright. I know the both of you tried to stop me at the end. I appreciate it and thank you." He lightly smiled at them. "But could you give us a few moments. We'll meet tomorrow."

Both of them left, but Sasuke looked at the scene behind him once more. How the two of them were connected. Naruto had already awakened the Sharingan and Kasumi too had a kekkei genkai now. She awakened it to save him. Why didn't he have someone like that? Someone who would be ready to push boundaries for him. Kasumi was not the dead last as he thought. She turned out to be probably the most capable kunoichi from his generation. And from today's actions, he was sure that the two of them could never be just friends He scowled a bit and left.

"Sumi" Naruto said softly as he gently caressed her cheek and rubbed her back "don't you want to go back home?"

"Yeah" she said as she got off him. Her bangs shadowed her eyes as she made her way towards the Compound. She did not speak a single word.

* * *

Night Time, Naruto's Backyard, Uchiha Clan Compound.

Both teens had been quiet since the incident. Kasumi didn't speak unless she was asked something. It was a completely dull and horrid affair. To Naruto it felt heart wrenching to see Kasumi like that. True he had taken a larger risk, but now he was starting to regret it. Kasumi however was in emotional turmoil right now. She had nearly seen the person who was precious to her end his life so she could live. How could he do that? She knew that it was because she was weak she had gotten into that position. She believed that Kakashi would've been able to stop him but what if he was a second late? What would she have done if she lost Naru? He was everything to her.

The one person who accepted her even after seeing the living monstrosity that she housed in her gut. There was no way she would ever lose him. Not having anyone in her life had made her extremely clingy and affectionate towards Naruto.

She could not speak to him however. She was also very angry at him for taking such a huge risk. She simply kept training with her katana, weapons and jutsu after coming back. For the first time she did not bother to have ramen after lunch. Or at dusk. She did not have single bite.

Her mind was far too focused on the fact that today's last event had transpired because of her inability to sense that Kakashi was nearby. Sure Kakashi did it on purpose, but what if another situation like this arises on a real mission? She would never risk Naru prioritizing her life over his. She would grow stronger to protect him. Dinner had also passed and Naruto tried to speak with her about her chakra chains. She wasn't paying too much attention to it, she did however remember the name. Kongo Fusa, the Adamantine Chains. And now we find Kasumi is outside with her sword. Slashing and hacking into nothing.

Naruto had called her and told her to stop. He knew that his action today was the reason why she was like this. What else could he have done? Use Amaterasu on Kakashi he was tempted to do so but then the blame would fall on Kasumi's shoulders and he could never do that to her. He'd rather die than let her get blame on anything else. This also raised another matter. He had mouthed some words to Kasumi before he prepared to kill himself. When those memories with her flashed before his eyes, a great amount of regret also exploded. How he should've said something more to her. How he wanted to spend more time with her.

So many other thoughts and dreams that centered around her.

"Sumi." Naruto said "Stop it!"

No reply. This was the third time he had told her to do so.

He jumped forward and disarmed her as she began to punch him in his chest. She stopped as his arms surrounded her once more and melted into his chest.

"Why?" Kasumi whimpered "Why did you do that? What would I do if you were gone?!"

"I'm sorry Kasumi. I really am. But I promise you. I will never do that again."

Silence reigned supreme. Then Kasumi spoke up. She believed him. Who else could she believe? This was the bond that she shared with Naruto. She could tell when he was lying.

"Naru." Kasumi said. "Today yesterday you said you didn't like power hungry mongrels. The way you said 'mongrel'... Were you the ANBU who helped all those years ago?"

Naruto stayed silent for a few moments and then answered, "Yes." He rubbed her back to make her feel more comfortable as he felt her body becoming more relaxed."

"So you've been helping even before we were proper friends. You're really selfish" Kasumi paused for a few moments before she dared herself to speak once more. "Naru...Did you mean what you said?" She asked. It was about the words he mouthed to her. Naruto knew exactly what she meant.

* * *

 **INSERT MUSIC: Final Fantasy X - To Zanarkand (Alternate Version / Ending Theme); make sure you play it... helps with the scene.**

* * *

"Hai." Naruto said as her violet orbs looked at him at his instant reply. He was cupping her cheeks as she leaned into it.

"I thought you were just my friend. You're not. You don't know how much you mean to me. I really can't see my life without you. After kaa chan died, I had Shisui, Miko obaa chan and Tachi nii. Then the Massacre happened and I truly became alone. I wanted to avoid everyone and remain alone. Slowly, I became cold and detached. But then you came... and then I had mistakenly thought that you also saw me as an Uchiha and I left... It was my greatest mistake. But you always wanted to be friends with me again and I finally got you back. You brought back something I thought I had lost. Whenever I see you... I feel so complete. I don't need anything else. With you everything is in it's right place. So, yes I meant what I said."

He took a deep breath.

"I love you Kasumi Uzumaki... and nothing in the world is ever going to change that for me. No matter what you say, no matter what you do. Even if you do not see me that way, I will never stop loving you Sumi chan. "

"When I saw you with the kunai..." Kasumi spoke as her voice was regaining it's original conviction " I regretted not being able to tell you anything. You... you don't know what you really are to me. All my life I've been alone. Hokage jiji came to visit me once in a while. Then the there was oji and Ayame nee chan. But none of them were always with me. Then you saved me from those guys before the Academy started. I ... had pushed you away because of my pride and it hurt so much. Then we finally became friends again and it felt so good. You saved me from Mizuki and you trained me. You gave me a home. You're someone that I can never live without Naru and now you beat me to the very same words I wanted to say... you baka."

Naruto's eyes widened as Kasumi had tears in her eyes but a smile on her face.

"Hai. I love you too Naruto Uchiha. I fell in love with you and I was afraid. Afraid that I would lose you if I said something like that. But now that I know... that you... see me as a precious person I'm not afraid. I love you Naru kun... And you can never get rid of me."

"I would never even think of it." Naruto replied.

Then slowly their heads leaned forward. Their foreheads connected. Their eyes had found each other again. Time stood still once more as the winds gently blew against their bodies. Both of their lips were going straight for each other. An action that was long overdue.

Finally his lips found hers as they finally embraced each other. Tingles went through their bodies as the finally felt the world around them dissolve. At this point nothing else mattered to them as they closed their eyes. All their sadness, regret and sorrow present in their lives had been washed away, as their lips had been captured by each other. They stopped for a few seconds. Naruto's eyes had finally regained the original shade of blue that he had lost, as Kasumi's violet orbs seemed to gleam more than ever. Naruto was blushing as his arms were still around her waist. Kasumi was flushed as a rosy tint had been painted on to her cheeks The moon shone down that day on Naruto and Kasumi as they were still firmly attached to one another. This was a moment that they would remember for the rest of their lives. Moving on instinct, their lips found each other again as they sat down on the bare ground. Their lips refused to be separated from each other.

It was perfect.

* * *

 **Phew! Done! I hope you guys liked the chapter. This is by far the longest chapter I have written for his fic. I hope you guys don't hate me for what I've done. I know a lot of people are going to say that they haven't known each other for too long. Well sorry man but I think I'm gonna keep it this way for now. Plus I said it was gonna be cheesy so I sort of have to live up to my promise. I know I'm not a good writer when it comes to romantic scenes but I tried by my best and I hope you liked it. Let's be honest, I'm no** **Narutoxsharingaxenthusiast** **when it comes to these scenes, that guy is in a league of his own when it comes to romance. Make sure you visit his page. And for those asking about the Gunbai and Kusarigama, he hasn't fully gotten the hang of it yet, so Naruto did not use it.**

 **Please leave a follow or a favorite if you like the fic and the way it is going. Please tell me what you think of the way this chapter has gone in the reviews and if you have some ideas please let me know. I appreciate any and all ideas, of course it's a different thing to say if it will make it in the fic. Take care, eat well and sleep for at least eight hours a day people. See you in the next chapter. Ja ne!**


	10. Life With A New Resolve

**SO NO CHI NO SADAME~**

 **JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJOOO-**

 **Naruto : Hey! You're doing it again!**

 **Rifat: What?! I like that song.**

 **Naruto: Still I don't see how that is related to this fic. I mean it's about the Narutoverse. Not the Jojoverse.**

 **Rifat: What's that I smell? Is it perhaps jealousy?**

 **Naruto: Please! I could take on anyone from there an-**

 **DIO: Za Warudo!**

 ***Time stops***

 **DIO: You were expecting some sort of notes from the author weren't you... But the notes will not be given to you by Rifat, it will be given by I,,,,, Dio Brando!**

 ***Cue dramatic gasps from readers.***

 **DIO: I Dio know what all of you are wondering... 'How did Dio Brando get inside here?'... It's simple because I Dio wanted to come here. And now time has frozen for the two bickering idiots as I clean this mess up. The last chapter was received with warm reviews that even made I Dio smirk at the support that you humans chose to give. But it doesn't matter to me. It matters to the author who is still standing there munching on his Oreos. So let the chapter begin.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

The morning was perfect.

For some reason, the night had become much more colder. This made the warm and fuzzy sanctuary of the bed feel all the more welcoming. Slowly blue eyes opened up. The sheets of the bed were comforting and blissful. The sun's rays had finally managed to break in through the window and paint the room with it's own choice of color, albeit they were still a bit faint. Naruto Uchiha felt that the entire world was finally paying him back for the things that were taken from him.

His blue eyes had finally regained their original shine back. A bright and electric color that radiated a certain kindness, a trait he had nearly abandoned a few months ago. However, all of that had changed now. He was wearing a simple, short sleeved blue t-shirt and black pants. These were the same clothes that he had worn last night after he went out to see Kasumi, who was still distraught. He was idly wondering if it was all a dream. All the events that happened yesterday. Not to mention, last night.

'Did it really happen? Did I finally tell Kasumi how I feel? Did we truly kiss?'

All those thoughts were washed away as he felt something against his body. He thought it was his pillow that had been dragged towards his frame, but he was wrong in every sense of the word. Looking down a bit, he was greeted with a sight that he had longed for. A sight so rare and precious to him, that not even his mother's Tsukuyomi could ever show him.

A familiar mop of blonde hair was seen resting near the crook of his neck. He felt the sweet smell of strawberry coming into his nose, and Naruto assumed that the fragrance must've come from the person who was fitted against his body. Two slender arms had been wrapped around Naruto's waist. One of his arms had been wrapped around her waist and the other was at the back of her head, slowly caressing it. He could feel her body leaned up against his, and down below he felt his groin becoming more impatient. But Naruto would control his own fleshly desires. At his feet he felt some tickling sensations. This was strange for him, as he never remembered being ticklish. But now, he could feel the soft toes of the girl making circles around his leg. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

Then Kasumi Uzumaki awoke. Her deep violet eyes looked up to meet twin blue orbs, which to her seemed brighter than ever. She was lost in them, they seemed like a vast ocean that held so much warmth in them. She then looked down below and saw that she was still wearing clothes from last night. Her black shirt and red pants were still there, despite her initial thoughts that something else had gone down. However, even before that she knew that Naruto would never do such a thing. Not without her consent anyway. Looking away from his eyes she focused on his face. She was loving the gentle way he was currently caressing her hair. She was also smiling. She was idly pondering how her life had changed in the last two months.

Normally one would be crazy if a simple relationship between two teens went from being friends to sharing the same bed. That would be the reasonable conclusion one could come to in a normal world. Alas, therein lies the problem. This was not a normal world. This was a world, where the strong live and the weak perish. Only winners, weaklings generally have no place where nearly everyone is the human medium of proficient killing. These two teens were different even in this world. One had never known love in any sort of way in her life, the other had lost everything he had. Both of them had found solace in each other. A solace that evolved into comfort. The comfort later became a thread tied them together. They were each other's lifelines at the moment.

"Ohayo... Sumi chan." Naruto said as softly as he could, the smile was there as it had been since he looked down at her resting form.

"Ohayo... Naru kun." Kasumi replied. Like our raven haired protagonist, she too had wondered whether it was all a dream. Whether all this happening right now is still a dream that she is stuck in. All the thoughts that she housed in her mind was cast away as she felt a pair of lips slowly pressing themselves on top of hers.

Naruto felt the soft supple lips of Kasumi. It tasted ever so subtly sweet. He then brought his arm that had been wrapped around her waist to her cheeks. He slowly traced his hand along her cheek. He was slowly moving his lips against hers, taking his time in this blissful moment. He added a little bit more pressure but he would not initiate anything further beyond, as it had remained the same as last night.

But then to his sweet surprise, he felt Kasumi lick his lips. It seemed that she had wanted more than just the simple contact of his lips against hers. Instinctively, he opened his mouth and his tongue escaped the caverns of his jaws to meet hers. The hand that rested on her head now snaked back to her waist as he puller her closer to him. Kasumi too had put her arms around his neck to bring him nearer. Their tongues intertwined with each other and were wrestling against each other.

Neither knew how much time had passed since they had so passionately engage each other, but by the end of it both were flushed and out of momentary breath. They had wanted to enjoy the kiss as much as they could, as long as they could. Their lips parted and both looked at each other once. Red painted blushes had adorned their cheeks as both were still looking at each other with eyes that held love. A love that one could be absolutely sure of, a love that would never fade away and withstand every storm that comes in it's path.

They quickly kissed each other some more after drawing in their breaths, with each kiss their hearts skipped a beat. Naruto felt the intense hardening of his groin increasing ever so, his mind had been steeled against doing something that right now but his body felt otherwise. Kasumi too felt a deep increasing heat between her legs. It was something that she had never felt before, not to such an extent. Her low C cup chest was heaving as she felt them getting perked up. Before she knew it, by the end of their session, the space between her legs felt a little wet. However, the full ecstasy could not be enjoyed as Naruto had promptly pulled himself away.

He withdrew the moment he knew that if this lasted any longer, he would give in to his carnal desires. Though he had felt that it was the most natural feeling in the world he too knew when to stop. He looked at Kasumi whose eyes were staring deeply at him. A flushed expression adorned on her face. Both of them were also panting.

"Sumi chan... we should get up." Naruto said.

"Hai..." Kasumi replied as she once more gently pecked his lips. She too got up and together they both looked around. This was not Naruto's room, nor Obito's which was now occupied by Kasumi. This was a much larger room. Both had not bothered to see or notice that they had been lying in much larger, king size bed. The smooth white colored walls of the room had given them enough clues as to where they were as the memories of last night had finally come back. Last night after their first kiss, Naruto and Kasumi had entered the house.

Due to the sheer stress of the day, both were tired though mentally more than the physical aspect of it. Their minds were not working properly and Kasumi had asked Naruto to sleep with her. She had felt scared after watching him nearly die, Naruto complied making himself promise that he would not do anything that implicate Kasumi in any sexual way. They had stepped into his parents room and both had initially laid on the large bed with their backs turned. Though that had changed.

Naruto and Kasumi stepped out of the room which once had Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha as their residents. Both had gone to their respective rooms to take a bath and change up. Naruto had taken a cold shower. He really _needed_ it. After he was done, he sat on his bed and thought about the events that happened yesterday. He was happy... no scratch that. Words could not describe how Naruto felt right now. The one person he had cared for and fallen in love with, had truly understood those feelings and returned them. He had a new purpose in life. Kasumi Uzumaki was now officially the most important person in his life. However, Kakashi had forced his hand yesterday and he had shown his Sharingan. He was idly wondering if the Civilian Council is going to cause him any problems.

Or Danzo Shimura for that matter. That was a problem he had yet to face.

The Clan Restoration Act. When a kekkei genkai wielding clan died, there would be need to 'repopulate' the clan once more. Usually if a male heir survived, he had the choice to take on a wife or if he wants to take as much as four. With the females it was a horrific case, she would have one suitor after another until she got pregnant. The CRA could only be mandatorily applied once the said heir is eighteen. Of course, the heirs had a choice if they could also marry only one person. Naruto scoffed as he remembered the act.

"Fucking mongrels." Naruto muttered in disgust. "Kami knows what Tobirama was thinking when he approved that act. Funny... now there's only one Senju in the world. Well two if one were to be technical." He heard a knock on his door. "Come in."

Kasumi walked in wearing her usual orange garb. She had a million dollar smile on her face. Naruto also smiled. She sat beside him as her head leaned onto his shoulder. He put his hand around her shoulder. Both were sitting and then Kasumi spoke up.

"Naru... what did Kakashi sensei mean by my kekkei genkai?"

"Right. I forgot to mention that to you." In reality Naruto had not told her anything so as to not inflate her ego. She was brash and outspoken, and if she knew she was from a clan boy would she ride that high horse. "The Uzumaki Clan were cousins of the Senju Clan. They were seal masters and deadly with their kenjutsu. Their village Uzushiogakure was destroyed before the Second Great Ninja War. In fact, that's what lead to the war. A rare kekkei genkai that manifested itself in a rare few was the Uzumaki Kongo Fusa. The Adamantine Chains have chakra draining property and they can be used as both offense and defense. They can even hold down certain Bijuu to an extent, like the Kyuubi that you hold."

"SUGOI!" Kasumi yelled. "Looks like you're not the only one with a Kekkei Genkai anymore huh Naru?"

"Yeah... about that. There's something I need to tell you. It's about a certain act." Naruto said as he sighed. He then explained the situation the both of them were in. By the end of it, Kasumi's hair had taken the shape of nine floating tails as her eyes turned into a terrifying shade of white. Boy Naruto sure picked one hell of a girl to fall in love with.

"Those conceited, plotting, power hungry motherfu-" Kasumi's volume was only increasing.

"Sumi! Calm down." Naruto said as he felt some of the Kyuubi's chakra leaking out. The talk he had with her had made a visible impact on her mental stress. Although, it was understandable. The same people who always ostracized her would now be sucking up to her, all because she now had a kekkei genkai. Suddenly Kasumi looked at Naruto and he flinched. He would rather take on Kakashi in a death match than face her wrath. Nope, never going to face that.

"YOU... You're going to be under the act as well right Naru?" She said each word with emphasized anger. The very thought that some girls would try to dig their nails into her man would set her on a killing rampage.

"H-hai!" Naruto spluttered out and he himself felt embarrassed at the way he said it.

"Good. Now," Kasumi's anger died down a bit as she looked into his eyes. "Naru...did you really mean what you said last night?" She needed to hear those words again. Three simple words... but the impact those words had on her was unimaginable.

"Of course I did." Naruto replied, as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I love you Sumi chan. I always will." Kasumi then kissed him, and Naruto kissed back. Her lips were too soft. After a full minute of their kiss, they broke apart.

"How about we have breakfast? We need to go meet Kakashi sensei after all. Three hours later that is." Naruto said as he remembered the man's bad habit. Of all the habits he could've honored Obito by, he had to use the 'Sorry I'm late because insert reason here' card.

"Hai. But I wonder if he's going to be late like this everytime?" Kasumi asked as she put a hand on her chin. Suddenly, she felt Naruto poke her forehead once more. She had gotten used to it, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't rub her forehead.

"Let's go. We can have a quick spar after that." Naruto said as he extended his hand forward. Kasumi took it and got up.

* * *

Four Hours Later, Training Ground Seven.

Naruto and Kasumi were walking closely towards their training ground. They weren't holding hands but the close proximity at which they walked had given off enough signals that the two were not merely friends. Soon enough, they had found their training ground and saw their other teammates waiting. Sakura seemed like she had been rejected by Sasuke again, while Sasuke had seemed pissed. As they saw Naruto and Kasumi, both of them had two very different reactions.

"You're late!" Sakura yelled a little. Surprisingly she did not screech. "Please don't tell me you picked up Kakashi sensei's habit already."

"Nope." Kasumi replied. She was cheerful. She had ramen for breakfast. Life was good for her. "Well we figured that Kakashi sensei would be late so we trained a bit and came three hours later."

"*sigh* Why did we get a lazy sensei like that?" Sakura said. She then looked at Kasumi and remembered yesterday's events. "Say Kasumi what were those chains that came out of your body? Didn't it hurt?"

"Not one bit. In fact, I didn't feel anything. But I tried to do it this morning and only one chain came out. I need to train it more." Kasumi said.

During all this Sasuke was eerily quiet. Inwardly he was a bit confused. Why did this no named loser gain a kekkei genkai whereas he a member of the main house of the Uchiha Clan did not awaken his? It was infuriating. Kasumi was still weaker than him, but he knew that she must possess a lot of chakra much more so than him. She was a true kunoichi.

Then to make matters worse, the Uchiha Lamb was better than him. Not only had Naruto awakened his Sharingan, he had already mastered it as he remembered all three tomoe. A member from the branch side and that too Genjuro's spawn had outshined him. Then there was another issue. If Sasuke was honest he was a bit infatuated with Kasumi. Not only did she look pretty, but she was also far more developed than all the other girls her age and was a serious kunoichi unlike everyone else. But what ticked him off the most was the fact that she had spent her entire time with Naruto. A boy who had outright ignored her for the last five years, yet they were so close. He wanted that.

A strange look in his eyes manifested, one that was not showing any good intentions. He thought that maybe the Civilian Council could help him. Yes, they said that they would always help him. Considering that she has no clan, she might be forced into it. But the only problem was Naruto. True he was from the Branch Clan, but his potential was clearly much greater than Sasuke had imagined. Right now, Naruto could very well kill Sasuke, because he had the Sharingan as Sasuke thought. 'Is this why Itachi spent so much time with him? Did he know that Naruto would be such a-'

"Thinking something are we Sasuke san?" Naruto's voice reached Sasuke's ears. Naruto was standing behind him right now. His icy blue eyes staring deep into the skull of Sasuke as if he was trying to drill into it.

"Naruto." Sasuke said as he gritted his teeth. He had that same indifferent expression that Itachi always had. He hated that look. It made him feel inferior. "When... when did you awaken the Sharingan?"

"When I was seven, at the night of the Massacre." Naruto replied. The sooner this shit storm ends the better. If it comes down to it, he'd even take Sasuke down a few pegs. The other two female members of the team were looking at this with curious eyes. Both were a bit nervous, they really did not want a fight to break out.

"How? How is you Sharingan fully matured? Tell me how you-" Sasuke was cut off.

"Through training. I trained every day for the last seven years. I did as much training as I could. Nothing more nothing less." Naruto said. Suddenly Kakashi appeared in a poof of smoke and he was going to give the usual excuse as well. But he had seen the tension rising. It seems that Sasuke Uchiha was not appreciating the fact that Naruto had not only awakened his but also fully matured his Sharingan.

"Let's go to the Hokage Tower." Kakashi said as his team followed. Naruto was walking besides Kasumi as they strolled towards their destination. His first mission as a ninja would begin. His first mission with his team. Finally a true shinobi will-

* * *

Two Hours Later.

"I've had enough with this!" Kasumi yelled as she tried to catch the Demon Cat Tora. The Bane of All Genin. Tora was a living legend of Konoha. He belonged to the Daimyou's wife and had frequently run away. Ironically he had always come to Konoha. For years he has been torturing the D Rank Mission Board. His speed and evasion skills are such, that even most chunnin pale at his sight.

All four genin of Team Seven had wasted two hours on this cat. Finally Naruto had enough and activated his Sharingan. "You know what? Fuck it!" Naruto said visibly annoyed as his entire team looked at him. This was perhaps the first time they had seen him angry like this. He then looked at Tora who was cornered and began slowly walking towards it.

"Tora." Naruto said as his Sharingan looked at Tora's eyes. The Demon Cat was not afraid as it stood it's ground. "You are a mere extension of the feline species. A temporary existence in this world. You are an unstable force that threatens the existence of all genin in Konoha. You need to be controlled. I Naruto of the Uchiha Clan shall be the one who controls you and make you realize the flaws of your misguided ways." Naruto made the tiger hand seal. "Obey!"

Tora's eyes changed into crimson with three tomoe. Naruto had just used genjutsu to control Tora. Everyone on his team was merely staring at him with eyes widened and jaws hung. Why he gave such a dramatic monologue to the cat was beyond all of them. Kakashi merely stared in awe at what happened. A genin, fresh out of the Academy, had made Tora obey his commands. Even elite Jounin were not capable of such a feat.

"Come!" Naruto ordered and Tora willingly followed. All the citizens of Konoha were mesmerized by the fact that Tora was listening to him. They simply stood aside and recorded this glorious moment in their minds.

* * *

Hokage's Office.

"NANI?!" Iruka nearly yelled after he saw Tora obediently standing there. Kakashi then explained the entire situation to the Third Hokage. After all was said and done, Hiruzen called Naruto and Kasumi personally.

"You wanted to say something Jiji?" Kasumi asked. Her bubbly personality was never going away. And for those who knew the true her, they'd never want her to change.

"Yes. It's about the fact that you two have Kekkei Genkai. Naruto kun when did you awaken the Sharingan?" Hiruzen asked.

"When I was seven. It was during the night of the Massacre. I didn't realize that I had awakened it until a few days later." Naruto replied.

"I see. You should've told me Naruto kun. It seems that the Shinobi and the Civilian Council wanted to talk to the both of you and they've convened a meeting that takes place in an hour. Don't worry I too will be there." The Third Hokage assured them with a smile.

* * *

The Civilian Council.

It was an absolute mess. Naruto was not listening to a single word the civilians were saying. His full attention was divided between Kasumi and the man who had bandages over his left eye. He had an eerie air about him, and Naruto swore that he felt Shisui's chakra. This man must be Danzo Shimura. The two elders beside him were Koharu and Homura, former teammates of the Third and his current advisors. Naruto did not like any of them. They just gave off bad vibes.

"I suggest that Naruto Uchiha and Kasumi Uzumaki be put under the Clan Restor-" a civilian member's speech was cut off.

"Civilian." Naruto said out loud as his face had a neutral expression and a cold gaze. "Don't interfere in matters that do not concern you."

"But. We are the Civilian Council we have a right to-"

"Speak when you are spoken to and raise issues that concern you. Do not think for a second that you are in charge of the Shinobi here. That honor only belongs to the Hokage and Hokage alone. Nobody else." Naruto said with a tone of finality. The Clan Heads were merely smiling at the words Naruto said. The Civilian Council had lost a lot of it's power over the last few years and Naruto was putting them in their place.

"Thank you Naruto kun. Now I assume that the both of you know what the CRA is?" Hiruzen asked. He saw both genin nod their heads and he continued. "Then you know that you will eventually have to get married to someone and restore the clan."

"I do Hokage sama. But I also know that the CRA cannot be applied until you are eighteen or a jounin. We also have a choice to who we marry as well." Naruto said.

"Yes." Danzo spoke up this time. "But if you do not then your wives will be chosen and Kasumi here will have several suitors to-" The words in Danzo's mouth died as he saw that the temperature of the room dropped. Kasumi was visibly pissed. If that wasn't enough Naruto had also activated his Sharingan.

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence blind jiji." Kasumi said and Naruto was choking back a chuckle. The guts on this girl. "Besides I've already chosen who I'm going to marry."

"What?!"

"Who is it?!"

"Why were we not informed?!"

"SILENCE!" Sarutobi roared as his killing intent flooded. It was aimed at the Civilians who incoherently saying things that really did not concern them. "Once again you civilians speak out of turn. Do not speak unless it concerns you. Kasumi chan... if I may ask who is it?"

"*cough*" Naruto coughed while a small blush had crept up on his face. This was amusing a few seconds ago, he was ready to kill people and now he was blushing.

"Oh dear." Hiruzen said as he chuckled.

"Kasumi Uzumaki." Danzo spoke. The Old War Hawk. "You have made a fine choice." The entire room was silent. They could not believe that Danzo agreed to this. His contemporaries however understood why he said this. A child born from the Uchiha and the Uzumaki Clans. Only time would tell how strong a child like that would be.

"Then this meeting is over. Naruto kun, Kasumi chan you may go back."

Both genin left, they had already made this plan before the meeting began. However, it was true. They really only had eyes for each other. They were now unofficially 'engaged'.

* * *

Konoha Main Town.

"So do you want to train after lunch?" Naruto asked.

"Yup. I need to work on those chains-ttebayo!." Kasumi chirped.

"Okay. But let's not forget about our other skills. If I'm guessing right we're going to be doing D ranks for at least two months." Naruto said.

"What?!" Kasumi yelled and then mellowed in sadness. It was amazing how quickly her personality changed. "But that's not fair. How will I show the world I'm an awesome ninja ready to become the Hokage?"

"Hehehe." Naruto laughed lightly and some people were staring. They had never seen him laugh before. "Standard protocol. Even nii san went through it at first. But since it was war time they were growing up they were sent to do more dangerous missions. Look at this way Sumi. We get more time to polish up our skills." He said with a twisted smile. Kasumi paled. He was probably thinking of new ways to torture her. Torture that Naruto called training.

"KASUMI CHAN~!" Kiba's undignified yell made it to both of their ears. Naruto sighed and Kasumi had a tick mark on top her head. Kiba was rushing towards them and stopped the moment he saw Kasumi's hands intertwined with Naruto's. He felt a metaphorical kunai stab his heart. "Why are you holding his hand Kasumi chan?"

"Because I liiiiiikkke~ it." Kasumi replied the way that Ayame had often teased her. Even Naruto felt a bit weird. The way those words were said just seemed so damn teasing.

"No Kasumi chan! You can't do this! He's from the Branch Clan of the Uchiha. I'm the heir to the Inuzuka Clan. I'm better than-" Kiba was cut off as Kasumi spoke up.

"Don't do that again Kiba." Kasumi replied coldly. "I don't care about clan status. Naru kun is the only one I care about like this. So never say that about him again."

They both then walked away leaving an angered Kiba. In his mind, he as an alpha dammit. They were naturally predators and wanted what they wanted. However, he would never do anything undignified. Reasons being one, it was wrong. Two, his mother and sister would sooner castrate him the minute they heard he was even thinking of something like that.

* * *

Naruto's House.

Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha's room once more had two people in it. More specifically two people in their bed. The lights were turned off and Naruto activated their privacy seals. The pale moonlight was shining through the window. The two of them were lying in their bed. Naruto was kissing Kasumi right now. Their tongues engaged each other in a duel. After some time, they broke apart as a thin trail of saliva was formed making a line between their mouths. He was caressing her cheeks and to his surprise she purred. Oh how he would tease her about this. Both were wearing t shirts and shorts.

"Naru." Kasumi said. "I don't want to... you know..."

"I know Sumi... I know." Naruto replied. As powerful as their hormones were, neither would give in so easily. Of course, that didn't mean they wouldn't kiss and cuddle. He brought her firmly closer to her. Her face in the crook of his neck. She looked up at the person she had fallen in love with. "Don't worry Kasumi. It'll happen when you want it to happen." He kissed her once more and she too pressed back.

"Good night Naru. I love you." She whispered as he buried her face into the warmness of his neck. Her arms wrapped around his waist.

"I love you too Sumi." Naruto kissed her forehead as one hand was wrapped around her waist and other on her nape. He took in the sweet smell that emanated from her body.

'I never want this to end.' Both Naruto and Kasumi thought as they drifted off into the realm of dreams.

* * *

 **Yup. Gonna end it here. Sorry this was more of a filler chapter. I wanted to include some lovey dovey scenes here because well I want you to understand the dynamics of the current relationship they have. The Wave Arc will begin next chapter. I'll try to finish it as quickly as I can. Maybe it will be three chapters at most. Don't worry though, there will be fights in this fic. Otherwise there's no point in writing a Naruto fanfic. And apparently because Dio interfered The Mage Of Six Paths has been delayed. I am working on the new chapter. 80% of the chapter 12 is done. So don't worry. Any doodle, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. If you think it's good please leave favorite or follow by hitting that button. Do review and leave your opinions they serve as fuel for me. As always I hope you guys are well and take care. Ja ne XD**


	11. Into The Waves of Tomorrow

**MAIYA EE MAIYA OO MAIYA HA MAIYA HA HA MAIYA EE MAIYA OO MAIYA HA MAIYA HA HA**

 **You know how the rest of the song goes. I really hope all of you are doing well. As usual, let me start off by saying this thank you. Thank you for your continuous support. Honestly, I did not expect the Uchiha Prodigy to get a good response like this. I few days ago, when I saw that this story was being followed by more than 1000 people….. I was like "MURICA FUCK YEAH!" or something along those lines I don't remember. But really it's because of you guys that I am continuing to write this. So thank you. Now, for the story I know you have a lot of questions. Yes, the story will try to follow the canon as closely as possible however I will try to tone down the OP-ness of Naruto Uchiha. But it really will be difficult. I know that some of you have a question about his Mangekyou, so here it is. We've all seen how Obito used his Mangekyou for years without going blind and the same could be said for Shisui who had the Mangekyou for a considerable amount of time. I can only venture a guess that their usage did not affect them like it did on the others. For example, Itachi used it for years until he died because of his illness. Yet, good ol Masashi decided to make Sasuke go nearly blind after two days of him using it. I CALL BULLSHIT RIGHT THERE. So yes, I will be making sure that Naruto uses his Mangekyou a bit more from now on. Also, he too will suffer from the side effects not right now that is. But enough about that, let's get on with the story and the Wave Arc commences now.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA, STUDIO PERRIOT AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

TIMESKIP: Three Months Later.

* * *

Uchiha Clan Training Ground, Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

Two katana collided with each other. Metal met metal, the noise that came from the collision of the two strips of steel was ominous. A 60 cm silver slash came towards the raven haired boy, he cunningly parried the oncoming strike with his own black blade that made the other blade feel shy 10 cm shorter. Naruto Uchiha was smiling and struggling a bit at the same time, he wasn't using his Sharingan. True he had sent clones to train alone while he faced Kasumi in a kenjutsu spar. He needed to keep up his own training after all, and he was pretty sure that it would be sometime before Kasumi caught up to him.

He didn't want to pressure her or anything. The last five months and nearly three weeks were the best moments of his life. Kasumi Uzumaki had been a diamond in the rough, one which he had clearly cut out. True, he could beat her hands down, if he activated his Sharingan and went full out, but she never had any real training until she started training with Naruto.

Kasumi for her part was grinning like a mad scientist. It seemed that kenjutsu was her personal cup of tea. Ginken, in her hand almost seemed to be gleaming with happiness. She too knew that Naruto was holding back. She could only imagine how strong he really was. I mean, it's not everyday you meet someone who can suppress the powers of a Bijuu with his eyes let alone something as fierce as the Kyuubi no Kitsune. She was very satisfied with her strength. Naruto once told her that if she kept going at the pace she is now, he feared to think what she would become five years later.

Her fuuinjutsu was coming along way too nice if anything Naruto said was an indication. Her fuuinjutsu in Level Two was probably midway through, while Naruto was nearing the middle ground of Level Six. Naruto guessed it must've been her Uzumaki blood that made her so proficient. Back to the matter at hand Naruto was struggling to parry each move. Her kenjutsu was undoubtedly deadlier than his, though that did not mean he would give up so easily.

After a few more slashes and stabs, the both of them stopped their spar for the day. The weather was good and they had finished their D Ranked missions for the day. Although Kasumi was a bit more cheerful as they would finally get a break from their monotonous D Ranked Genin Marathon. Naruto still had today's events roaming around his head as he sat down and sighed. He ran a hand through his spiky black hair, as he as let it grow out a bit again. He started remembering the incident that occurred today at the Hokage's Office while they went for their 'mission' report.

* * *

 _By the Author's Command Seal, I invoke a pointless and predictable Flashback._

" _Team Seven here report another successful D Ranked Mission." Kakashi said with his constant lazy tone. He looked at his team who were visibly frustrated. Kakashi was enjoying this. He too remembered when Minato and his team would do D Ranks in the beginning. Though they were deployed for more dangerous missions outside as those were wartimes and the overall danger in the Elemental Nations was at an all time high. "We'd like to know the contents of the next D Rank as soon as possi-"_

" _NO!" the combined yell of Sasuke, Sakura and Kasumi came with a resonating quality. Naruto was simply standing there with a bored expression on his face._

' _I really wanted another D Rank Mission… Shadow Clones are much more useful and get the job done quickly.' Naruto idly thought as he saw that Kasumi was about to blow a gasket. He did not dare say anything. She maybe his girlfriend, but even he knew not to wake up a sleeping dragon. Especially, if it was the Orange Menace._

" _Jiji!" Kasumi exclaimed "I'm tired of all the stupid D Ranks you keep handing out."_

" _Kasumi!" Iruka yelled with his Big Head no Jutsu activated. "Show Hokage sama the proper respect when you speak to him. Also it's mandatory protocol for fresh genin teams to perform D Ranked Missions before their Jounin sensei even considers getting a higher ranked mission for them. Isn't that right Kakashi senpai?" Iruka said looking at Kakashi for some support._

 _"Hmmm." Kakashi looked up from his precious orange book of smut, he raised an eyebrow at the scarred chunnin "Oh sorry. Did you say something?" Iruka merely sighed and mentally slapped himself, he walked right into that one._

 _"Never mind." Iruka said as he started to speak up again. "Long story short, unless your sensei feels that you are ready for a new mission you have no choice but to stick with the D Ranks."_

 _"Yes." Sarutobi spoke up as took another breath from his pipe. The Sarutobi Clan members were generally chain smokers. Hiruzen's father Sasuke always had a cigar on him somewhere, Hiruzen had his pipe and Asuma had his cigarettes. Konohamaru, whom Naruto and Kasumi had met a few months ago, was a child so they were pretty sure he did not smoke, but there was a large chance he'd pick it up in the future._

 _"Now let's see what missions Iruka has got for you." This got the three genin visibly annoyed, Kakashi reading his book while giggling at the same time and Naruto was absentmindedly thinking about taking Kasumi out on a date. Sure they were a couple, kissing and cuddling was on of their most important tasks of the day but he wanted to do something special. But where to take her?_

 _"Let's see. We have painting fences, the help at clinic, cleaning out the kennels at the Inuzuka Clan and-" All of Iruka's words were doused out by a shrieking voice that undoubtedly belonged to a woman, a voice everyone here knew all too well._

 _"COME BACK TO KAA CHAN TORA!"_

 _"MEEEEEWWWWWWWLLLLLLLL!"_

 _"Or you could catch Tora again." Sarutobi added insult to injury. In all honesty he was surprised by the amount of efficiency Team Seven had over the other genin teams. Did having one extra member change the dynamics of the teamwork so much? If so, then he'd have to change the standard genin regiment from now on._

 _"Hokage sama." Naruto spoke up with a deadpan expression on his face. "If that cat ever crosses my path again. I will murder it in cold blood and burn off it's remains with my most powerful Katon jutsu, then I'll make the owner forget about her cat with my Sharingan." Now everybody was a bit stunned at Naruto's words. He was hailed as the Tamer Of Tora because he had done what no genin had ever done possible, but it seemed the Cat from Hell had broken past his limit just like with everybody else._

 _"If I may Hokage sama." Kakashi spoke with a lazy tone. "I think that Team Seven are ready for a C Ranked Mission." This added even more intrigue and even audible gasps into the situation._

 _"Senpai!" Iruka exclaimed "You can't be serious."_

 _"Maa maa Iruka." Kakashi waved off his hand. "My cute little genin are more than ready for a simple C Ranked Mission. In fact, all the more experience for them."_

 _"Are you sure Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked with a serious face as he had the pipe in his hand._

 _"Yes Hokage sama." Kakashi replied in a no nonsense voice._

 _"Very well then." Sarutobi said and looked at Iruka. "Give them a C Ranked mission. A beginner level one."_

 _"Hai Hokage sama." Iruka said in a mumbling manner. You couldn't blame him. He had watched the kids in front of him grow up, so he was a little over worried about them. He then took out a scroll and gave them a small brief about the mission. "This an escort mission. You will have to escort the client to his home in Nami no Kuni. He is a bridge builder, you are expected to stay there and guard him until the bridge has been completed. It's fairly low ranked and shouldn't take more than a week. Will you accept this mission?"_

 _"Hai hai."Kakashi replied as he took the scroll and read the contents. His genin team was cheerful at the turn of events. Kasumi was squealing in joy, Sasuke was smirking and Sakura was also happy that they were going up in the food chain. Naruto on the other hand was bored. Nami no Kuni, didn't have any shinobi of their own and was a relatively peaceful place._

 _There was no challenge there. Maybe a couple of lowlife bandits at best, if they were lucky they'd run into a stupid shinobi trying to make a name for himself. But there was also another reason he did not want to go there._

 _His father Genjuro Uchiha had died trying to free the people of Nami no Kuni from Iwagakure Forces during the early stages of the Third Great Ninja War. To this day, the Land of Waves recognizes him as the hero who liberated their country. Genjuro had also lost his life freeing the country fighting off hundreds of enemy shinobi as he made sure that his kidnapped comrades could make it back. Naruto was having a painful moment remembering this, the darkening in his eyes did not go unnoticed by Kakashi, Iruka and Sarutobi._

 _"Bring the client in." Sarutobi said to the Random Chunnin #1 who was standing by the door. He nodded and left the room. Sarutobi for his part had his eyes fixed on the young Uchiha Prodigy. ( **AN: Sorry I couldn't resist.** ) It seemed that Naruto was much, much more stronger than Sarutobi had guessed. He was already good without the Sharingan, and when he used it he was sure that Naruto could go toe to toe with some jounin. _

_But why did he hide his skills? A part of Sarutobi told him that perhaps he was following his sensei Tobirama's way but another part of him suspected Naruto. After all, decades of being a shinobi adjusts a person's mindset that way. Right now, he could see that Naruto was a bit troubled. He was going to Nami no Kuni, the place where his father's body was burned. This was the place from where the pressure on his family began._

 _"Hey Naru!" Kasumi said while shaking Naruto out of his thoughts. "Aren't you excited?! We're finally getting a break from all those stupid chores!"_

 _"Yeah." Naruto replied with a fake smile. "I know." Kasumi caught the subtle tone with which he spoke. She could tell when Naruto was lying or repressing his emotions. She just tightly gripped her hand on his. This was a subtle 'we need to talk' signal._

 _Then the gate opened and a man in his fifties entered the room. He had a bottle of sake in his hand. He wore glasses, a sleeveless brown shirt and a haori on top and grey pants. He also had grey spiky hair and a goatee. Clearly the man was a bit buzzed, but was lucid enough to speak his next words._

 _"Huh?" Tazuna slurred as he looked at the genin. "What is this? I asked for a team of shinobi and you gave me pinky frail girl, an orange clad idiot girl, a duckbutt emo and ..." Tazuna stopped as he looked at Naruto, while the other genin were glaring daggers and Naruto himself was restraining Kasumi from causing another person to suffer a hemorrhage. "Hmm you kinda seem familiar... Have I seen you before kid? he asked as light drunk stain of pink was on his face._

 _"I'm afraid not." Naruto replied with a blank expression. "I would've remembered someone if I met them."_

 _"Huh? Looks like this is the only normal kid here. I asked for ninjas, not teenage upstarts." Tazuna slurred once more._

 _"Don't worry Tazuna san. My team will be more than capable of handling the C Ranked Mission." Kakashi said with an eye smile. Tazuna grunted and left. Kakashi looked at his team and spoke, "Alright my cute little genin. We meet tomorrow at the Eastern Gate. Pack for a week and we'll head out at 7 in the morning."_

 _"You mean 10 right?" Sakura asked wryly. Everyone had gotten used to Kakashi's bad habit by now. Seriously the man would show up late at his own funeral._

 _"I mean 7. Ja ne!" Kakashi shunshined out of there as Team Seven made their way out._

 _"Say what do you think might happen on this mission?" Sakura spoke up._

 _"Nothing much." Naruto replied. "Shisui nii used to tell me that the biggest danger in beginner C Ranked missions are bandits."_

 _"Hn." Sasuke grunted. "Did Shisui always tell you about his missions?"_

 _"Not the ones he did while in ANBU. He said I'd have to be a hundred years old before listening to those." Naruto said. He knew that there was a large chance of him joining the ANBU when the time came._

 _"So it's gonna be another boring mission?" Kasumi whined as she now leaned on Naruto's shoulder, this caused him to smile lightly._

 _"Well most genin teams don't get C Ranks until it's been six months or so. I guess we're really lucky... in a way." Naruto said._

 _"Fine." Kasumi had some sort of gleam in her eyes. "Wait... then I won't be able to go to Ichiraku's for a month. Let's go Naru! I need some ramen!" She gripped Naruto's arm and disappeared in a trail blazing speed, Naruto was suffering from whiplash._

 _"Hahaha" Sakura giggled a bit at Kasumi's antics. She had always found her to be annoying at class, but after three months she actually found some of her quirks funny. "They make a cute couple don't they, Sasuke kun?"_

 _"Hn" Sasuke scowled and frowned at the words Sakura said. He was still coming to terms with the fact that the Council couldn't do anything about him wanting to marry Kasumi. She had openly declared that Naruto was her fiance in front of them. He'd have to do something about that. He wanted Kasumi. He deserved a kunoichi like Kasumi. Those were his thoughts of course. "I don't care." Sasuke walked away._

 _"Sasuke kun" Sakura called out to her not so secret crush. He always seemed to be a bit angry when he saw Naruto and Kasumi having their moments._

* * *

"Naru" Kasumi called and saw that Naruto was doing his thing. The thing were he phased out. Giggling in her hands, she decided to mess with our raven haired protagonist. She walked upto him and he met her gaze as she made the ram hand seal. She was grinning madly and Naruto paled. What the heck was she gonna do?

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke covered Kasumi and Naruto was trying to wave off the smoke. When he did, his eyes jumped out of their sockets. A busty, blonde woman resembling and older Kasumi was on the ground in a seductive position wearing nothing but scanty clothes that barely covered her assets and her curves. She blew a kiss at Naruto. Naruto being the mature teenager he was did the only thing he could do.

*PHWISH*

Naruto shot back with blood rushing out of his nose. He had swirls in his eyes. He was lying on the ground while his right leg twitched frequently, as some drool came off the side of his mouth. He was giggling too.

"Naru's a pervert too" Kasumi mumbled as she picked up the knocked out ninja. He was mumbling something about kinjutsu. She giggled at his unconscious rambles.

A few minutes later.

"What happened?!" Naruto jumped up as the last thing he remembered was seeing heaven on earth.

"You passed out Ero Naru." Kasumi said with a cute pout on her face.

"I am not a pervert." Naruto said as he tried to defend himself. "Besides... I only have eyes for you."

"Baka" Kasumi said as she sat down beside his beside. Soon enough, she pecked his lips and he kissed back while he put an arm around her waist. She too held his cheek as she melted into the kiss. "You know... if this keeps up. We're eventually going to end up... doing that."

"I know." Naruto said as his lips once more found the pink, supple lips of Kasumi. This time their tongues had entered the fray as they massaged each other. A small trail of saliva formed and disappeared after the kiss ended. "But... I won't do it unless you want to. You mean too much. I'd rather wait than do something that might push you away." He pulled her into an embrace as her head was on his chest.

Kasumi for her part was enjoying this as much as she could. She knew how much Naruto adored her. Also there was the fact that they might not be sleeping together for a week. She liked her teddy bear, a nickname that Naruto often groaned at.

"We should pack up a bit later. That way we'll have more free time today." Naruto as he slowly traced her cheeks with his hands and she purred. This was priceless.

"Stop it." Kasumi said with a blush. This was his way of teasing her. "We are going to go at 10 right?"

"Yup." Naruto replied. He'll start believing in a blood worshipping god sooner than believe that Kakashi would be on time.

* * *

Next Morning, 10'O Clock, Eastern Gate Entrance, Konohagakure no Sato.

The four genin and Tazuna the builder of bridges waited for Kakashi to appear. And then

*POOF*

"Hey everyone. Sorry I'm late. There was kite stuck in a tree so I climbed all the way up and then gave it to the kid. Then a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around and I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi gave the most reasonable and pathetic excuse in the history of humanity.

"Whatever."

"Hn."

"*sigh*"

"..."

"Is this a thing?" Tazuna asked.

"Yes." All four genin replied at the same time. Always the same excuses. Naruto thought that Kakashi should liven up his excuses a bit more. Like I caught a pervert peeping at the Hot Springs or an S Ranked Ninja appeared whom he had to fight quickly. Now those were excuses.

"Well let's head out." Kakashi said and soon enough the group of six had left.

* * *

Outskirts of Hi no Kuni.

Kakashi had finished explaining to Sakura why Wave has no shinobi of it's own and the Hidden Village per Country system. This was something that was not included in the Academy Curriculum but the other ten thousand tons of bullshit was. Naruto scoffed as he remembered the days of the Academy. Not only was it pointless but it was also during this time he had effectively cut off all social ties with people. The phase when he had ignored Kasumi was the time he felt like he was the biggest jerk of the world. But she still gave him a chance, he really needed to do something to make her feel special.

But what?

'I need some advice for this. Definitely not gonna ask Kakashi about this. I wish Itachi nii was here. He did have a girlfriend... Wait how did he have a girlfriend?'

The very interesting thought in Naruto was broken off the moment he felt three chakra signature following them. They were probably low chunnin level. Naruto looked at Tazuna, perhaps he had lied about the true nature of the mission. If chunnin were here, then this was clearly a B Ranked Mission. Kakashi too had picked up the three people following them but did not show it. He wanted to see how this played out. Both he and Naruto noticed a small puddle near their path. A puddle in the middle of summer.

'Genjutsu'. Both Naruto and Kakashi said as the events unfolded.

Then a sharp chain broke out of the tree as two masked shinobi, with scratched Kirkigakure headbands, entrapped Kakashi with it and ripped him apart. Then a third figure appeared out of the trees, he too had mask but he wore a purple outfit and a red mask covering his lower face. The two masked brothers, then rushed for the bridge builder. Sakura stood in front of him with kunai in hand. Kasumi summoned three clones and attacked one of the masked fiends, she finally used a roundhouse kick to knock him out. Sasuke took on the other one and threw several shuriken at him before kicking him in the jaw.

Both perpetrators were unconscious. The red masked one looked at the two.

"To think Gozu and Meizu were defeated by mere genin." The man said. He saw that Kakashi came out of the bushes.

"Well first the Demon Brothers and now Shinji Hayate. All B ranked nuke-nin coming for the mere bridge builder." Kakashi said as he looked at Tazuna, who was nervously sweating at the look the silver haired jounin sent him.

"Sensei" Naruto said as he had a kunai in hand. "if you don't mind. I'll take him."

"Of course." Kakashi said with an eye smile. Naruto was definitely a mid B Rank if their training exercise was any proof.

"Cocky aren't we BRAAAGGGH!" Shinji felt the wind being lost as he saw a fist lodged into his stomach.

"You talk too much." Naruto said as he continued to beat down Shinji and then disarmed his tanto with a kunai before stabbing him in six different positions in his arms.

He lost mobility and then Naruto kicked his chin with both feet. "Honestly who uses a puddle as genjutsu in the middle of summer? Oh wait... you idiots did." He came back and saw that Kasumi's arm had a small stab mark on it. He saw that the poison in her arm was leaking out, as a small orange like bubble like substance closed the wound. He still didn't let go of her arm though.

Afterwards Kakashi learned the truth from Tazuna. Gato the business tycoon was apparently ruled Nami no Kuni with an iron fist. He oppressed the people and was driving the country into poverty. He killed people he didn't like, raped any woman he wanted and most of all he was taking away their livelihood while taking up protection money from them. The first protocol was that they'd have to go back. Naruto however spoke up.

"Sensei." Naruto spoke up "if it's alright with you. I'd like for us to continue the mission."

"Naruto. I understand why you want to do this mission more than anyone. But the team's opinion matter as well." Kakashi said.

"We have to do it Kakashi sensei!" Kasumi spoke up with vigor. "All those people being treated like that. They need our help."

"Hn. The dobe is right." Sasuke said as Kasumi shot him a glare. "I for want to go along with this."

"Yeah." Sakura said who was unsure previously "Besides, we have you with us Kakashi sensei."

"I'll go and find out what I can." Naruto said as he walked towards the Demon Brothers with his Sharingan activated. They were currently tied up with ninja wire on separate tree trunks.

"What the fuck do you want kid? I'm not saying anything." Gozu said.

"Why don't you tell me that by looking me in the eyes zasshu?" Naruto said as Gozu looked and stared. Then Gozu started speaking to Naruto about the mission. Kakashi whistled at Naruto's action. He used a genjutsu to scrabble his mind. Kasumi had stars in her eyes after Kakashi explained it. Sakura learned about the Sharingan and Sasuke once more got annoyed at the proficiency with which Naruto used it.

"It seems we have another problem on our hands." Naruto said as he came back to the group. "Zabuza Momochi is also under contract from Gato." Kakashi sighed hearing that.

"Who's Zabuza Momochi?" Sakura and Kasumi asked. Sasuke was also interested but did not voice his question, he was too cool for that.

"An A ranked nuke nin. One of the members of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist." Kakashi replied. "We need to be on guard at all times now."

The group moved kept on walking with Kasumi staying at the rear. Sasuke and Sakura on Tazuna's sides and Kakashi up front. Naruto had gone back to make sure that the three nuke nins don't escape and tightened their holds.

"Say cyclops san." Tazuna said. "What did you mean you know why that kid wanted to do this mission at all costs?"

"Well" Kakashi said as he felt Naruto was not near enough to hear them "Nami no Kuni is important to him. His father had previously saved the country before all those years ago. So he has a personal reason to do this mission more than any of us."

"Wait..." Tazuna said "His father saved the country?... His father is Genjuro Uchiha?!"

"Yes Tazuna san." Kakashi said. "He is Genjuro Uchiha's only living son." The group of genin simply stared at the shocked face of Tazuna. Kasumi herself did not know much about his parents. Naruto himself never met his father and rarely talked about his family.

"That man is the reason why Wave was free from Iwa. I still remember him from the days of the Third War. No wonder the kid looked a but familiar." Tazuna said as he saw Naruto return.

"They won't be escaping anytime soon Sensei." Naruto said and saw Tazuna looking at him. "Can I help you with something Tazuna san?"

"No no. It's just I never realized you were Genjuro sama's son." Tazuna said with a grateful smile.

"I see." Naruto said as a narrow look crossed his face. "Let's move on." He stood with Kasumi as the rear guard.

Slowly so that no one could hear them.

"Naru" Kasumi said as she took his hand into her own "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Naruto said as he looked at her. "I'm fine. Besides I have you to cheer me up."

"Baka." Kasumi said as she lightly kissed his cheek.

Naruto Uchiha smiled and stared ahead. He was going to the Land of Waves. The place where his father fought his final battle and died.

* * *

Slowly they made their way across and came to a river. They got on a boat. The boat man was risking his life to take them across the river. They finally witnessed the large, unfinished bridge that could be seen from afar.

"That looks great even in this state." Naruto said as he walked across the water, since there was no more space on the boat. Sasuke was merely staring at Naruto performing the feat as if it was nothing.

"Yeah" Tazuna said proudly as he looked at his baby. "By the time I'm done all of Wave will be open to other countries so we can trade. I can't express how thankful I am to all of you." Tazuna said.

"Don't worry Tazuna san. We'll make sure that you get to finish your bridge."

"It really does look great" Sakura added her two cents.

"Hn." Sasuke said as he looked at it. "What's so great it's just a bridge."

"Yeah that's how it starts. A bridge. Then two more guys each build a bridge. Then another guy builds a bridge. Soon enough three more guys band together and make a bridge that becomes really popular. Soon enough everyone is making a bridge." Kasumi said. Naruto merely chuckled at what she said.

( **AN: I wonder how many of you got that bridge joke.** )

They soon came to shore and there was a mist covering the entire forest. They got off the boat as the rower said he can't risk taking them any further without alerting Gato's thugs.

The group of six are making their way across as both Naruto and Kakashi look around. Kasumi threw a kunai into the grass and went to inspect her victim. It was a bunny.

"Kasumi!" Sakura yelled. "Don't scare us like that."

"Mou..." Kasumi whined "I was sure I saw someone there."

Naruto and Kakashi merely looked at the white bunny. They were not supposed to be around here unless someone had.

'Kawarimi.'

"Get down!" Both Kakashi and Naruto yelled. Kakashi grabbed Sakura and Sasuke, while Naruto tackled Kasumi and Tazuna. A great zanbatou whirled where their heads were previously positioned and then embedded itself onto a tree. A large muscular man with bandages over his body stood on the etched blade. The lower half of his face is covered. A scratched Kiri hitae ate is on his forehead. His eyes were fixed on all of them as he sent them a menacing stare.

"Well well Zabuza Momochi's here... Fuck." Naruto said as he braced himself for the battle that was to come. He put a hand on his katana and was smiling.

'Looks like this might not be a boring mission after all.'

* * *

 **Phew. Done with this chapter at last. That was a trip you guys. I intend to finish the wave arc in three to four chapters so don't expect me to drag it out unnecessarily. With that said please leave a follow or favorite if you think this is worthy of that. Make sure you guys review and let me know what you think. PS: the Battle on the Bridge will not be the same as canon, that's for sure. (EPIC FORESHADOWING). Take care people Ja ne XD**


	12. In the Land Of Waves Lies the Tree

**Hey guys... I sort of had an acid trip a few days ago. I realized that writing too many fanfiction stories at the same time causes one story or another to lose it's true direction. SO HERE IS A NEW UPDATE**

 **UNTIL THE UCHIHA PRODIGY IS COMPLETED ALL OTHER STORIES, EXCEPT THE SHINOBI MAGE, ARE ON HIATUS. THEY ARE NOT DISCONTINUED OR CANCELLED. UPDATES FOR THOSE STORIES WILL BEGIN AS SOON AS THE UCHIHA PRODIGY IS COMPLETED. THE SHINOBI MAGE WILL BE UPDATED EVERY 7 TO 10 DAYS. OTHER STORIES ARE ON HOLD I.E : A SHINOBI IN THE NEW WORLD & MADARA'S TRUE LEGACY ARE ON HIATUS.**

 **So there it is guys. Don't worry, I am literally scribbling down all the points for my other stories on a note copy so that I don't lose the ideas for the other fics. As of this moment, the Uchiha Prodigy is my number one priority in . With that said, I keep getting reviews about pairing Naruto with other characters... If this was a harem based story I would've stated. Please don't ask me to pair him with someone else. I have worked on this story with a lot of dedication and I know that it will work out in the end. I have also placed a insert music section here, make sure you turn it on and you'll understand why I recommended it. So without further ado let's to the battle with Zabuza.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Forest Outskirts of Main Town, Nami no Kuni.

The two jounin class shinobi clashed. The mist that Zabuza had used to his advantage was paying off. Naruto knew that Kakashi would have an edge over Zabuza, Obito's Sharingan in Kakashi's right eye socket had saved his hide more times than he could count. Now, it was helping again as he fought off with the now rogue nin of Kirigakure. From what Naruto saw, the only edge Zabuza had was his swordplay and the mist that had always hugged this nation. Whatever Suiton jutsu he had could be countered easily by Kakashi and his Sharingan.

But then again, not being one of the Uchiha Clan causes immense strain on the person using the Sharingan. Judging by Kakashi's movements, Naruto could tell that the heritage factor was slowly starting to come in play here.

Naruto, Kasumi, Sakura and Sasuke were guarding Tazuna in the manji formation. He was on his guard the whole time. He could sense another chakra signature nearby and was confused by it. The signature seemed calm and restless at the same time. Often times, it got near and then backed off. Was it just a bystander? No. The chakra level was definitely that of a shinobi. Naruto then Sasuke breaking his concentration from the formation and completely focus it on the fight.

When Zabuza had unleashed his killing intent previously, Sasuke was the one who was hit by it the most. He had even opted to kill himself just be rid of it. If Kakashi hadn't reassured Sasuke of his safety, he might've just gone through with it. As for Naruto, Zabuza's malicious intent was pale in comparison to Itachi's and not to mention the Kyuubi, who despite being put to sleep by Naruto still made him worry to a great deal.

Sakura seemed to be able to cope with the amount of killing intent surprisingly, and Kasumi too seemed okay if not a bit shaken. Naruto had often unleashed his own cruel intent during their training sessions, but it didn't work. She wasn't afraid of him, she feared his training methods but not him.

'He must be wondering where Kakashi nii got that Sharingan from.'

Then Naruto saw that Kakashi and Zabuza were near the lake. Soon enough, Zabuza's trick worked and the swordsman had trapped Kakashi in a water prison. Naruto gritted his teeth when his eyes witnessed the sight of their jounin sensei being imprisoned by the circular binding construct of water. The only way to break the Water Prison was to attack the person who was holding the prison.

Zabuza then proceeded to make a Mizu Bunshin. A perfect copy of Zabuza made of the chakra coated water from the lake appeared and slowly made his way across to the group. He was unleashing his killing intent once more.

"Run!" Kakashi yelled from inside the sphere of water that jailed him. "Take the bridge builder with you and go!"

Naruto and others were tensed. Naruto knew that there reallyw was no chance of escaping. The moment Kakashi was trapped, all their options came down to two: Either fight or eventually die. Naruto had never fought an opponent of Zabuza's level before. Experience is one of the deadliest weapons that a shinobi can ever have and Zabuza had plenty of it.

"They're not going anywhere Kakashi." Zabuza said with a murderous joy in his voice. Naruto then noticed that Sasuke rushed towards the Water Clone that was approaching them. Naruto tried to stop Sasuke but it failed as he saw the Fireball being overpowered by Zabuza's Suiton jutsu. Then he slammed Sasuke into the ground and stepped on his chest, grazing some ribs as Sasuke coughed up a bit of blood.

"You kids think you're ninjas..." Zabuza's clone stated. "Let me tell you this. Passing an exam does not make you ninja." Zabuza's clone looked at Sasuke with every intention of sending him to the afterlife. "Wearing a headband does not make you a ninja... You become a ninja when your hands are stained with blood." Zabuza's clone gripped the Executioner Blade and brought it down on Sasuke.

*THWACK*

The Executioner Blade could not kill Sasuke. Instead it met with a hard surface. The hard surface of a Gunbai. Naruto had unsealed the Gunbai from his wrist and had rushed towards Zabuza to make sure Sasuke would not be killed. The Gunbai was truly living up to the promise it was made with. But Zabuza's strength would overpower Naruto's and then the second linchpin of the plan came into play. A fuma shuriken was whirled towards Zabuza who dodged it. He saw that the blonde girl had aimed it right for his head. Naruto put his hand towards Sasuke who accepted it and got up.

"Alright you guys." Naruto said as he also unsealed the Kusa from his right hand. "Here's the plan." Naruto told them everything in a matter of seconds.

"Why are you still here?" Kakashi said. "The moment I was caught this battle was over. Now go and protect the bridge builder. That is your mission."

"Kakashi sensei." Kasumi said as a foxy grin spread across her face. "Those who abandon the rules are trash... but those who abandon their comrades are even worse than trash. We'll never forget those words sensei."

Kakashi felt some pride booming in his heart. Even while facing a deadly jounin with Zabuza's caliber they decided to stay back. With Naruto's Sharingan and their teamwork, it just might be possible. Then Zabuza started laughing. Quite hysterically.

"That's cute." Zabuza said as he stopped laughing for a bit. "Even now you think that you'll get your way by 'playing ninja'. Tell me something do you know how we graduate in our village?"

"The Bloody Mist Graduation." Naruto was the one who spoke, his eyes completely fixed on Zabuza's frame. "To become a ninja in the Bloody Mist Village... you must kill all the students in your graduating class." Naruto finished as everyone around him with the exception of Zabuza and Kakashi gasped. It was a story Shisui used to tell him to scare him like that, later on Naruto found out that it was no joke and it was a real incident. The three genin and bridge builder were absorbing the fact that something like this was an official exam.

"Smart kid. Looks like you know your history. But do you know how I graduated?" Zabuza asked hopefully. Naruto stayed silent indicating that he did not.

"Zabuza Momochi. The Demon Of the Hidden Mist" Kakashi said.

"So I take it you know the story Kakashi. Go ahead tell them." Zabuza said and Kakashi looked towards Naruto who nodded. Taking this as a sign that Naruto had a plan, Kakashi complied.

"Years ago the Yondaime Mizukage had made the death match the graduating exam in Kirigakure. In one of those exams a single child had emerged the victor. He killed over a hundred of his classmates. He cut off their heads, stabbed their hearts, struck every vital point in the bodies. However, the child who had graduated was not even a part of that graduating class. He had strolled into the Academy and killed them all mercilessly. The Mizukage himself discontinued this process after this child had done such a deed. He was called a demon hiding in the body of a child. He was Zabuza Momochi."

"IT FELT... SO GOOOOD!" Zabuza exclaimed with vigor. The genin seemed to be a bit put off with the proclamation he made. "When I was your age I was already lost in the rivers of blood I had created. You foolish children aren't ninjas. You will become a ninja when you have blood staining your hands. When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze, that's when you have the essence of a true shinobi. When you've become so deadly that your profile has been entered into my bingo book, then you may have earned the title ninj-"

"Are you done?" Naruto said impassively cutting off whatever Zabuza was going to say. "Or do you want a few more moments before you write your obituary?"

"You insolent br-!" Zabuza was cut off once more as Kasumi spoke up this. She had her hand seals crossed as she began to speak.

"Listen here no eyebrows freak!" Zabuza's eyebrow twitched while the others smirked at her words. "Put this entry in you ninja book. The one who's going to kick you ass here today-ttebayo. Kasumi Uzumaki the ninja who never gives up and will surpass all the Hokage!" Kasumi's words supplied as a fuel as the others perked up.

"Uzumaki?" Zabuza said. "Haven't heard of them since the Crimson Death Kushina Uzumaki. Then again you have a sword with you so it's pretty natural. Bring it brats!" Naruto and Kasumi picked up on his words for a second.

'Kushina Uzumaki.'

Just a moment later, Kasumi made several Kage Bunshin appear and rushed them towards Zabuza.

"Shadow Clones... quite a lot of them too." Zabuza said. "But completely useless!" Zabuza's clone used the giant zanbatou to get rid of all the clones but then had to block a hit from the Gunbai that rushed towards him. It was Naruto.

"A kid using a Gunbai." Zabuza's clone said as he brought down his Executioner Blade blocked by the Gunbai. "You're in the wrong age kid."

"Speak for yourself." Naruto said as he activated his fully matured Sharingan. Zabuza's clone jumped back but Naruto was relentlessly attacking him only drawing a stalemate.

"Even with the Sharingan, you're not going to win kid." Zabuza said and he saw that Naruto was attacking him with the Kusa from a distance, he had a chain mail attached to his arm. "You're smart but you're gonna need more than that to beat me." Much to his surprise, Naruto made a single hand seal of the tiger and breathed in air.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A large orange fireball exhaled from Naruto's mouth and hit the clone dead straight. The clone immediately dispelled as the water that made it's body stained the ground where they fought.

"Not bad kid but." Zabuza was going to make more water clones. Suddenly he heard two more yells.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

"Futon: Daittopa!"

The fire ball emitted by Sasuke was enhanced by Kasumi's wind jutsu as it went straight for Zabuza. He had no choice but to leave Kakashi's water prison jutsu and dodged the enhanced combination jutsu. He was cursing his luck and his arrogance.

'The whole fight with the water clone was a ruse. They were aiming for my real body the whole time.' Zabuza thought as he looked at Naruto who resealed his weapons and disappeared in a smokeless shunshin. He appeared near his team and they were in formation once more. Zabuza had picked up on the shunshin and remembered a certain former comrade's tale.

"Hey Uchiha brat" Zabuza said as he took the zanbatou in his hand "you wouldn't happen to know a Shisui Uchiha would you?"

"He was my brother." Naruto calmly replied. Zabuza looked a bit more interested in him now.

"Well well. Shisui the Teleporter had a little brother. Looks like he taught you his little trick as well." Zabuza then lunged towards the group with the Executioner Blade. Naruto and Kasumi had their hands on their respective katana, ready to parry his move. "But let's how good you are against the real me!"

*CLANG*

Kakashi had reappeared in front Zabuza and tried to hit him with the kunai and Zabuza blocked it with his zanbatou.

"I think your fight is with me Zabuza." Both shinobi backed away from each other a bit. "Good work team. Now leave the rest to me." Both jounin level shinobi then rushed towards the lake and began to fight on the surface of the water. First they engaged each other in some taijutsu before resorting to their weapons once more. Finally, both of them distanced themselves from each other as Zabuza started going through hand seals. Soon enough, Kakashi started going through hand seals, the same that Zabuza was doing and Naruto was watching every move with his Sharingan. Finally after 42 hand seals the two shinobi simultaneously stopped at the bird hand seal.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

The water surrounding the two shinobi locked in combat began to swirl and twist violently. The water took the shape of two water dragons emerging on opposite sides as they clashed against each other and they both negated each other perfectly. Kakashi had just given Zabuza a taste of what the Sharingan was capable of. He could feel someone else looking at him and saw that Naruto's Sharingan was staring at him, Zabuza saw the three tomoe in his eyes spin as he felt the sky grow darker and out of the water a very thing man emerged. He was exceptionally tall and he had no face, hair or hands. He wore a cloak and his face was pure white. Black smoky tentacles began to emerge from his cloak and were rushing towards Zabuza.

'The brat caught me in a genjutsu!' Zabuza immediately spiked his chakra levels. Just as the sharp projections were about to strike, the illusion shattered and he was facing Kakashi once more. Zabuza was panting a bit. Not only did he have to fight Kakashi, but he made the one mistake he should never have done. He stared at an Uchiha's eyes. 'I've got to get away from-'

"This place." Kakashi said as he looked at Zabuza, whose eyes widened.

"What did you say?!" Zabuza yelled.

"You heard me." Kakashi said as his eye Sharingan eye pierced the swordsman's frame.

"Damn you Kakashi." Zabuza said and he started going through more hand seals. Kakashi too had started going through the same hand seals. "You can't be-"

"at me!" Kakashi said it at the same time as Zabuza who was shocked.

"You're just a copycat!" Both said it at the same time.

"Stop copying me you worthless ape!" Again they resonated at the same time. This time Zabuza actually saw a reflection of himself standing behind Kakashi as the Copy Ninja's hand seal speeds increased. Zabuza was shaken to his core as Kakashi surpassed the hand seal stage he was at.

'What?! Is he finishing my own jutsu-' Zabuza thought.

"-before me?!" Kakashi said as Zabuza saw the tomoe spin wildly once more. "This is the end!"

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

The water began to thrust violently once more as it rose several metres high. Then it streamed down towards Zabuza in one big cascade, much like a gigantic waterfall. It hit Zabuza straight on as he was dragged back by the jutsu. He crashed through three trees due to the sheer force of the jutsu. It also destroyed some parts of the forest around it as well, making the scene look like a natural disaster. Zabuza groggily got up. He couldn't believe what happened. True, he had gotten rusty over the years but this was outright ridiculous. He saw Kakashi emerge once more. Zabuza could only ask one thing.

"That eye... does it show you the future?" Zabuza asked.

"Yes." Kakashi said. "It shows your death."

As if on cue, senbons were thrown out of the trees and struck Zabuza in his neck and several other spots. Kakashi braced himself and saw that a hunter came into the destroyed clearing. He seemed really young. If Kakashi was right, then he must've been around the same age as his genin. However, Kakashi also knew that age and skill do not matter. He, Itachi, Shisui and his own sensei were example of that feat. Kakashi had become a jounin years before his fellow comrades. The boy must've been strong. Kakashi saw that his entire troupe had arrived and Naruto had deactivated his Sharingan. Naruto looked at the hunter nin, coming to the conclusion that this person was the chakra signature he felt.

"Thank you for weakening Zabuza. I've been hunting this one for quite some time." The hunter nin said.

Sakura was asking who that person was and Naruto gave a quick explanation as to who that person was. Kakashi went forward to check whether Zabuza's body had a pulse. Naruto saw that Kakashi himself was walking a bit groggily and was tired. Then Kakashi came back, and Naruto raised an eyebrow at the hunter nin's actions. He picked up Zabuza's body. Standard protocol stated that only the head was required.

"Hunter san." Naruto said as he looked at them. "Why are you taking the body?"

"Zabuza's body has many secrets that Kirigakure needs. Hence the whole body is required." the hunter nin replied.

"Zabuza hasn't displayed any Kekkei Genkai abilities. I don't see the need for you take his whole-" Naruto couldn't finish as the hunter nin disappeared in a Shunshin. Naruto sighed. He tried to sense them, the hunter nin did a good job at suppressing his chakra. Naruto realized what just happened.

"Oh shit.." Naruto said. "I should've realized it earlier."

"Something wrong Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he made his hitae-ate cover his left eye. His entire body was tired. Kakashi too had gotten lax over the years. He had not used the Sharingan in quite some time. The effect was far more devastating than he thought it would be.

"The hunter nin was a fake. He used senbon needles instead of cutting off the head and taking it with him." Naruto said and Kakashi had realization dawning on him.

"Ahhh... Senbon needles. They cut off the pulse." Kakashi said as he sat down. "Looks like one of you will have to carry me." Naruto immediately made two shadow clones as they carried Kakashi, making sure they don't pull of anything too 'youthful' to his taste.

"What happened to him Naru?" Kasumi asked as she neared Naruto who had an annoyed expression on his face.

"Chakra exhaustion." Naruto replied as he saw Kasumi. "Using the Sharingan takes up a lot of chakra. Since he's not part of the Uchiha Clan, it takes a great amount of stress on his body."

"Hn." Sasuke said. "He shouldn't use something that doesn't belong to him. He should give it back to the Uchiha Clan."

"..." Naruto stared at Sasuke for sometime. "Sasuke san. There's a time and place for everything. And then there are situations where things happen beyond our control. Kakashi sensei was given that Sharingan from it's original user to use it. As far as the ownership of that Sharingan is concerned, sensei has proven himself to be more than worthy and capable of using our Kekkei Genkai."

"Naruto you-!" Sasuke said as he tried to say something before Kasumi stood in front of Naruto glaring at Sasuke.

"Back off teme!" Kasumi said. "Right now we need to get somewhere safe."

"Kasumi's right Sasuke kun." Sakura said. "Tazuna san how far are we from your home?"

"Not that far. It should take us half an hour if we walk normally." Tazuna said and the group walked off. Naruto could still feel Sasuke's light glare on him. He didn't care anymore. Sasuke needed to get off that high horse before someone kicked him down. And if Sasuke was like the atypical Uchiha, then he'd take that blow quite seriously. Naruto himself had something to take care of while in Wave.

* * *

Half an hour later, A very random Hideout, Nami no Kuni. **(AN: I really can't see Haku as a dude so he's going to be a chick. I wrote he above because Haku was fooling them by lacing his throat with chakra to give a difference vocal output.)**

"Dammit Haku!" Zabuza said as a beautiful girl plucked out the senbon needles out of his body. "You didn't need to hit me with so many needles. OWW! And don't yank it out like that!" He yelled in pain.

"Sorry Zabuza sama." Haku said with a smile. Haku was a beautiful teenager girl with waist length raven hair. She had a pale complexion and a thin frame. Well suited for assassination missions. "Still this will take some time to heal. I think at least two weeks."

"Dammit. I'll kill Kakashi the next time I see him. And that kid..." Zabuza said as he remembered Naruto. He was wild card. He had never seen a five man cell before, and now he understood why this team had four genin instead of the normal three. "That kid will prove to be a problem. I might need extra help."

"Are you sure Zabuza sama?" Haku asked. Right now, there was only one former comrade that Zabuza was in contact with and Haku did not like him at all.

"Yeah." Zabuza said as he gritted his sharp teeth, a trait he shared with many of the shinobi from Kirigakure and in particular the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

* * *

Four Hours Later, Tazuna's House, Nami no Kuni.

"This is going to be quite troublesome indeed." Kakashi said in such a lazy manner that members of the Nara Clan would be outright jealous. Kakashi had woken up in a room he did not know and assumed this was Tazuna's house. Soon enough a young, beautiful woman by the name of Tsunami entered. She told him, the team was waiting below and he requested her to send them up.

"Well the good news is that we have some time on our hands before Zabuza and the hunter nin return. Probably two weeks or less depending on his injuries."

"Ummm sensei time for what?" Sakura asked. She was really at her wit's end and no one could blame her. A C Rank mission had just turned A Rank due to the appearance of a certain Kirkigakure shinobi. Now there was the hunter nin to worry about as well.

"Well just enough time for you guys to increase your chakra reserves." Kakashi said. He then looked at Naruto and Kasumi. "How far are you on tree walking?"

"Well we finished water walking." Kasumi said with an infectious grin. Naruto merely nodded.

"Sensei, if it's alright with you we'd like to continue our normal training regiment." Naruto said.

"Yes you can do that Naruto." Kakashi said with an eye smile. Naruto mentally made a note to learn that. It was freaky in every sense of the word, hence useful.

"But sensei..." Sakura said with some tone of fear. "You were barely ably to defeat Zabuza last time. What can we do against him and the hunter nin?"

"True but tell me this Sakura. After Zabuza imprisoned me. Who fought Zabuza and protected the client?" Kakashi asked. "All of you did that. I'm sure that all of you will improve in the necessary sense."

"But sensei I didn't do anything." Sakura said with a downcast tone. "Naruto, Kasumi and Sasuke did everything. But I guess it's to be expected I'm not from any clan or something."

"OI SAKURA!" Kasumi said with determination in her voice. "Don't go around saying things like that. So what if you're not from a clan. I didn't even know I had a clan and I improved. Besides you were a better student than me. You're gonna do just fine-ttebayo!" Kasumi said and Sakura smiled a bit.

Over the last three months, Sakura and Kasumi had become friends. Though they still had some petty arguments, but all was well.

"Hn." Sasuke said with a displeased tone. Naruto understood because he too was well versed in 'Hn'.

"Sumi's right Sakura." Naruto said. "For example, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze wasn't from a clan but look at what he did. He became the Fourth Hokage and single handedly took out a thousand Iwa shinobi by himself. He's still considered the fastest shinobi in history."

"Sugoi" Kasumi said with stars in her eyes. "I didn't know that."

"Sometimes I wonder why you chose the Yondaime as your role model Sumi." Naruto said in a dead pan expression. Kasumi laughed with an embarassed manner and Kakashi chuckled, for reasons known to himself.

With that said Team Seven proceeded to go downstairs after Tsunami had called them in for lunch. They went downstairs and had lunch. They learned about the situation in Nami a bit more. The entire country was shit hole for the lack of a better term. The group had seen the poverty stricken area and wanted to free the nation. Though Naruto had a much more larger obligation than the others.

They also met the every emo son of Tsunami who seemed a bit hostile towards the group of ninjas, but didn't voice any of his opinions because of his mother probably. Naruto did not pay much attention. His mind was fixated on a certain place. He'd go to said place tomorrow. It was imperative that he went there. Right now he needed to rest.

He had shared his room with Sasuke and Kakashi. While Kasumi had shared a room with Sakura. Though that did not stop the two from meeting on the roof. Both of them were lying on the roof right now. Side by side, they lied as their eyes got lost in the path of stars that shone in the sky.

"Naru." Kasumi said as she looked at her boyfriend. "Is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Ever since we learned that the mission was in Wave. You seem to be a bit down." Kasumi said. Then with as much courage she could muster, she asked the question that bugged her mind. "Is... is it because of your father?"

Silence ensued. Naruto was still impassively staring out into the nighttime sky. It was moments like these he remembered his mom. The would just sit outside in the garden. Satsuki Uchiha would lay a blanket out on the grass and lie there. Naruto would accompany her and talk away for hours until he fell asleep. Then his mom would gently pick him up and take him to his room.

Or if he was really clingy at time, sleep in her room. Then Shisui would tease him about being a momma's boy. This would result in Satsuki threatening her elder son with so many painful promises. Shisui would immediately have a 180 change in personality. Of course, Satsuki would also call him by his nickname, Little Shi-Shi. How Naruto would tease Shisui about that.

Unknowingly a tear had escaped the corners of his eyes, as he remembered his mother and brother. They were gone. His entire family was gone. His brother had died at Kannabi Bridge. His father had fought and died in Nami no Kuni. This was the very same Nami no Kuni. The entire berating and ostracizing of his family began from this place. Don't get him wrong. He did not hate the country but he was not particularly fond of it either. Seeing the state of this country had affected him more than he thought. His father had given his life to protect his comrades and save the lives of these people. Now, he felt like that the very memory of his father was being spit upon by the one named Gato.

"Naru." Kasumi said as she saw the tears leaking out. "I'm sorry! It was stupid! I should leave!" Kasumi got up and started rushing away. She had made Naruto cry. She felt like a horrible person now. But she couldn't leave. Two very familiar arms had wrapped around her body. One around her neck and the other around her abdomen. Naruto had hugged her from behind and was clutching her.

They sat down once more as her back was firmly attached to his chest. Slowly their bodies began to relax as a share sense of warmth flooded their senses. She turned around and put her head on his chest, leaning against it as if it was the most natural impulse in the world.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said. "It's just... this was the very same place my father died. I never told you that. It was during the Third Great Ninja War, and Iwa had overtaken this place. My father, was given orders to destroy the place. A portion of his troops were held as hostages along with the people of this country. He broke the rules and chose their lives over the mission. As a result, he saved them but Iwa forces managed to escape and made their new plans centered around the Kannabi Bridge. He had died fighting them off. He..." Naruto hesitated for a second. He did not like talking about that moment. But he needed to get it off his chest.

"He wasn't even buried properly. His body was burned so that no one could benefit from his dead body. My entire family was berated after than and everyone always seemed to say nothing but bad things about us. It all started because he valued the lives of others over a war. So I have a obligation to this place. My father gave his life here and I for one can't let it rot like this."

After he finished, he once more felt the soft lips of Kasumi embracing his own. This was a more different kiss. It felt uplifting. Just a simple kiss of their lips connecting with each other. He held her body tightly. She too had pressed herself.

"I understand Naru." Kasumi said as she looked at Naruto with her violet eyes. Naruto was running a hand through her hair. "Your father was a hero... nothing can change that." She once more found the chest of her love. Yes she could say that without any hesitation.

"Arigato Sumi." Naruto said as he kissed the top of her head. "There's somewhere I need to go tomorrow. Will you go with me?"

"Of course." Kasumi replied. They stayed like that for a couple of more minutes before Naruto suggested that they leave to get some rest. Naruto felt the fatigue of his body taking over as he immediately fell asleep.

* * *

The Next Day.

Naruto and Kasumi had began their training, while Kakashi was teaching Sakura and Sakura tree walking. Much like he predicted Sakura had done it in one go. He was not surprised, she had small chakra reserves but her control was perfect. She would be a perfect medic nin for their team. Naruto mentally noted that he would tell her this after they go back to the village. Naruto and Kasumi were practicing kenjutsu with their katana. Hitokiri and Ginken were furiously clashing with each other. The two blades forged by Muramasa Seijuro tried to cut each other.

The styles that the two represented were quite diverse as well. Kasumi's attacks were based on very powerful strikes, of course she had fast attacks too. Naruto guessed that by the time she learned how to channel her chakra she would be lethal in the art. Her style sent by Muramasa was called Shinten Itto-ryu, the One Sword Style of Heaven.

Naruto's sword style depended on quick strikes at vital organs. In short, the techniques were made for one purpose: Killing. His style was called Kassatsu Itto-ryu. The One Sword Style of Life or Death. Naruto had seen the benefits for the style and saw that it fitted him perfectly. He kept sparring with Kasumi while he sent some clones to practice with the Gunbai and the kusa. Naruto was making his own style with the Gunbai. He had yet to come up with a name for it, but most of it was based on fuuton attacks. One thing was for certain, he was born to battle with a Gunbai, and handling Shikyoh came naturally to him.

Today was an off day for Tazuna so no going to the bridge for today. Suddenly Sasuke appeared before them and Naruto sighed.

"Naruto." Sasuke said. "What was that weapon used to fight Zabuza with?"

"You mean the Gunbai?" Naruto asked and Sasuke nodded, he knew what a kusa was. "It's war fan. It used to be used during the days of the Warring States. Why do you ask?"

"I need it." Sasuke said.

"Excuse me?" Naruto said. "What do you mean by that?"

"The Gunbai. I need it. I need to get stronger... Stronger to kill 'him'." Sasuke said. "I saw the way you used the Gunbai and it's uses. Give it to me."

"Buy your own Gunbai." Naruto said. "If you want one go to the Higurashi Weapons Store and order one. This one was made specifically for me. So sorry."

"I said... I need it." Sasuke said. "I'm from the Main House. I am ordering you as Clan Head to give me-"

"Woah!" Naruto said while raising his hand. " You're not clan head. Not until you're a jounin or you've proven yourself capable of that feat. And don't think about pulling a Main House and Branch Clan Card. We both know all those shenanigans are useless. And besides... you couldn't use my Gunbai even if you wanted to."

"What?!" Sasuke yelled. "Are you telling me that I, a pureblood Uchiha, can't handle a fan?" He then saw Naruto' clone come in with Shikyoh in hand.

"Fine then. Prove me wrong." Naruto took the Gunbai in one hand and placed it on the ground, making it stand vertically upward. "Take it and lift it."

Sasuke gripped the handle and felt some of his chakra being drained. He tried to lift it but could not. It was so heavy. Then Naruto picked it up.

"The Gunbai is made from a sacred tree. It consumes a certain amount of chakra upon contact. If you do not have the right amount and perfect control, you can never use it. Personally speaking, I don't think a Gunbai would fit you. You seem more of a chokuto wielder. It'll suit your style better. Now if you'll excuse me." Naruto said and walked felt like pulling a kunai on Naruto after that.

How dare he insult Sasuke like that? He needed to get stronger and Naruto was miles ahead of him. Kasumi too was ahead of him by a little he knew that. She had awakened her bloodline, whereas Sasuke did not. He needed it kill Itachi Uchiha and restore the Uchiha Clan. Kasumi Uzumaki in his eyes was the perfect matriarch. He had to get these two things done.

Naruto was turning out to be a pain.

* * *

Dusk, Near the Main Town.

Two figures walked side by side. Naruto and Kasumi were slowly walking towards a certain clearing in the main town. Finally after several minutes of silence, they reached a park. Kasumi was walking with him and finally decided to break the silence.

"Naru" Kasumi said as one of her arms was wrapped around Naruto's "where exactly are we going?"

"You'll find out in a couple of minutes." Naruto said. His eyes were completely focused. It seemed that the park around them was still in a fairly good condition. Shisui had told him about this place many times. A great memento of their family was situated here in the Park of Nami no Kuni. He was walking towards the designated location he had made a mental map of inside his mind. Then Naruto saw it.

* * *

 **INSERT MUSIC: Dark Souls - Gwyn, Lord of Cinder.**

* * *

A great white tree. The leaves of it had withered away and died. There was not a single leaf on the branch. However the tree seemed so beautiful in his eyes. It was a shade of white he had never seen before. The branches of the tree spread out like a web that created menacing shadows on the ground below. Then at the foot of the tree was a small wooden shrine. So small that only puppies or kittens could fit in it.

Inside the shrine there were three grey stones. Each stone had rusted kunai on them. They were attached by a string. There were some words etched on the stone in the middle which was the largest of the three.

 _"Here in this very spot where the Great White Tree has grown, is the very same place where Genjuro Uchiha's body was cremated. He risked the mission to free the people of Nami no Kuni. He had fought off the enemies and made this country free and in the end he gave his life. This shrine here represents the bravery and sacrifice that Genjuro Uchiha, from Konohagakure no Sato made. He is and always will be known as the Liberator of the Land of Waves. May he rest in peace and Kami bless his soul and his family."_

Naruto sat down on his knees in front of the shrine. This was it. The same place Shisui had told him about. The one place that his father's actions were honored. A small tribute the common people made for him and respected him. Naruto had so many emotions going through his mind right now. All the visions of his father that his mother had shown him were flashing before his eyes. He was picturing the man who resembled his elder brother Shisui so much, it was terrifying.

The kindness that his father held, a trait that Satsuki said was passed on to each of his sons. This was a very important part of Naruto's life. This was where the last remains of his father remained. He clenched some dirt and put it in his pocket. He would treasure this mere dirt from this ground. The ground which was witness to his father's passing. He would finally get some emotional closure here. He closed his eyes and started to pray to Kami. Kasumi didn't say anything. She merely sat down beside her Naru and joined him in a prayer. After a few moments, both finished offering their prayers and Naruto spoke.

Tears filled his eyes as he said his first words to the departing ground of his father.

"Hey there... I'm Naruto... you're youngest son... It's nice to meet you... Tou san."

* * *

 ***SNIFF* *SNIFF***

 **I'm sorry you guys... it's just the dust from the room. Definitely not the fact that Naruto has to come to the place... Also, with the Sasuke bash some of you might have complaints about but don't worry... It won't be a complete bash fic, I don't want to ruin my fanfic by making it a regular thing. I just want to assert the fact that Sasuke Uchiha is a prick... that's all really. You'll notice that I toned down the whole Sakura fan girl mode as well. Bashing is fun and all but sometimes it's repetative. I mean come on... "Only Sasuke kun can do this" and "Hn. I am an Uchiha. An elite. That power belongs to me. Unreasonable jealousy towards Naruto." I will try to tone that down as well.**

 **So Please leave a follow or favorite if you liked the chapter. Also... make sure you review... I have to go. Need to get this stupid dust out of my eyes. Ja ne...:(**


	13. The Wolves Are Here

**Yo!**

 **I hope everyone is doing well... yeah seems that way. Now here is something I want to share. I have every intention to finish the Uchiha Prodigy as quickly as I can. Many people have been asking me whether any of my other fanfics are cancelled or not. Let me clear the hidden mist on that one.**

 **Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze: Mokuton Heir has been officially cancelled. Why? Simple... it was becoming too similar to the Namikaze Prodigy, which was the first fanfic I ever read. I felt like that with my other fics, Mokuton Heir displayed a neglected naruto who was too kind for his own good. That is why I decided to do a take on Camster3100's Incarnate. Needless to say The Mage of Six Paths, Madara's True Legacy and A Shinobi In the New World are now 'On Hiatus'. It will remain that way until I finish the Uchiha Prodigy and re-marathon One Piece. I haven't had the time to watch it recently and I forget minor details. I know for a fact that A Shinobi in the New World might become one of my better fanfics that is why I don't want to rush it.**

 **With the Uchiha Prodigy and the Shinobi Mage, the way is clear and I can work on it. So let's go to the new chapter. But before that there is something I want to mention. In the review section I read a certain review that seemed wrong to me. I don't know about you guys but I am going to mention it here**

 **AlphaBetaOmegaAlphaBetaOmega wrote that the reincarnations of Asura and Indra can only be guys. I am sorry but not even Kishimoto ever said that. This particular review felt annoyingly sexist to me. If you don't like the fanfic, that's one thing but to say something like that just seems wrong. You can bash me all you like, go ahead and flame me to your heart's content. I can understand that I am not a good writer. I can openly admit that. But please refrain yourself from saying something sexist like that. It's disrespectful. I personally have nothing against you or anything.**

 **Please start reading with the disclaimer on cue.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Ten Days Later, Zabuza's Hideout, Nami no Kuni.

Zabuza Momochi was many things.

He was ruthless.

He was a seasoned killer.

Above all, he had his pride as a shinobi. A master of the silent killing technique, Zabuza had often prided himself over the fact that he was one of the better shinobi of his generation. As a child, he had a peaceful life, if one could call a mass murdering child a normal one.

However, ever since the Bloodline Purges began Zabuza had been put in a bind. Several of his comrades had been killed because of the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura's growing madness. He too had killed several Kekkei Genkai users. He had even killed a large number of Yuki Clan members.

During one of his missions, his unit had killed a pregnant woman and her seven year old son. There was a witness to all this. A girl no older than three had seen her mother and brother cut down in front of her eyes. Instead of killing the child, Zabuza took her in and raised her to be his 'tool', while getting rid of the others who were with him. For reasons known to himself, Zabuza like many other of his peers revolted against the Yondaime Mizukage and had attempted several assassinations on his life.

It had failed. He then went rogue, collecting funds for the Rebellion. For years to come he would take any wet work, no matter what the situation was. No ideals, no greater glory. Simply blood and the payment he got for it. He had worked for many a scum and didn't complain. He had taken in the girl named Haku and made her keep up the ruse of the Hunter nin. All was going well, if things at the pace it was he would soon be joining the war.

However that pride over his skills that he had built through all those years with blood, sweat and tears had been scarrred ten days ago.

Kakashi Hatake was famous for a reason. His mastery with the Sharingan was such that his skills would shame many pure blooded Uchiha. In a single battle, Kakashi had defeated him and showed that Zabuza's skills had diminished over the years. The Demon of the Hidden Mist had lost his devilish drive. Zabuza could've swallowed the defeat at the hands of Kakashi. The man had over a thousand jutsu in his arsenal and was one of the people responsible for the destruction of the Kannabi Bridge, the event that was a major turning point in the Third Great Ninja War.

No, Zabuza was furious that he had been one upped... by a genin.

"That Uchiha brat." Zabuza scowled as he slashed the air around him in fury as he remembered the genin.

True he was an Uchiha, an Uchiha with a fully matured Sharingan. The last time this happened those shinobi came to be known as Shisui the Teleporter and Itachi the Clan Slayer. Both were shinobi who had earned the respect of the zanbatou wielding ex-Kiri shinobi.

But to think that a brat had outsmarted him and then caught him in a genjutsu, that had caused him to use a significant amount of chakra during his battle with Kakashi, was appalling to him.

A genin ensuring the defeat of a shinobi who was a part of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist?

Lies.

Folly.

Madness.

The only conclusion that any rational minded shinobi could come to. But Zabuza knew better. The brat was the younger brother of Shisui and had proved that to some extent. But that did not stop Zabuza from blowing a gasket as he remembered the Gunbai wielding genin. He didn't even learn the brat's name. Zabuza had to kill Gato. He needed the money. So Zabuza knew that while he took care of Kakashi, Haku would have to take care of the genin brats. The only pain in this ordeal was said Uchiha brat who was a wild card in this situation.

A five man cell certainly changed things.

Zabuza knew that the brat would meddle with the upcoming battle. Zabuza was healed but he needed three or four more days before he could be back in proper shape. He needed someone else to keep the brat busy as he would carry out his dirty deeds. And soon enough, that someone had arrived.

"So Zabuza san" the person in the shadows sitting idly said. "How much more time do you need?"

"Shut up." Zabuza said. He was trying his best to keep his cool. "I don't see what you're complaining about you only arrived a few hours ago. Yet, you already act like you're tired."

"Sorry." the voice replied back as the owner of the calm voice lied down. His bandaged sword lying beside him. "It's just I really want to see the kid who gave you a hard time."

"Keep talking like that and I might just do you in." Zabuza said.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have called him Zabuza sama." Haku said. "He is careless at times."

"I can hear that." the person in opinion replied. "Besides you shouldn't underestimate me like that Haku chan. I am one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen after all." The man said as he closed his eyes. He was completely calm. He knew that Zabuza wouldn't have contacted him unless it was absolutely necessary. He was a bit perked up by this. He had to avoid a fight with a certain snake a few days ago and this seemed like a good way to relax a bit.

* * *

Tazuna's House, Nami no Kuni.

Eight people were sitting at a table. They were peacefully enjoying their meal. Well as peacefully as they could. The risk of death had been looming over their heads. Kakashi had been monitoring the progress of his genin so far.

Naruto was by far the most unnatural genin he had ever seen. He almost reminded him of Itachi and Shisui too much. A true genius. He had hidden his skills long enough and was a true ninja. He had employed deception and convinced the entire world, he was merely a member of the Uchiha Clan's branch side.

Though when Kakashi thought about it, the branch clan itself had boasted quite a large amount of great shinobi themselves.

Kagami Uchiha, the Heir of Fire, one of the most revered shinobi from the First Great Ninja war was considered to be the most powerful Uchiha to come into the clan since the days of Madara Uchiha. He was considered to be the one of the finest squadron killing shinobi that ever came to be and was generally regarded to be one of the few who rivaled Hiruzen Sarutobi along with Hanzo the Salamander, the Ei the Third Raikage and Ohnoki the Fence Sitter.

As such he was considered a living legend, however his status as a branch member was something that cause the Main House to even feel more insecure about them to create a greater divide between the two houses.

Then his own son Genjuro Uchiha proved that he was a strong shinobi that should never be trifled with. His fire affinity was considered borderline insane and was appropriately dubbed the Lord Of Cinder, leaving nothing but ashes in his wake and the charred bodies of his enemies if you had invoked his wrath. His power was such that Hiruzen Sarutobi had considered making him one of the possible candidates for the position of the Fourth Hokage to not only improve clan relations with the village but also to dissipate the invisible border of prejudice between the Main and Branch houses.

His wife Satsuki was called the Queen of Cruelty. Her genjutsu abilities were thought to be impossible sometimes. The thin line between reality and illusions became blurred once she activated her Sharingan. Many a shinobi avoided her due to the fact that one could not stare away from her face which exuded a natural drawing beauty, and by extension people would stare at her eyes...the last sight so many dead shinobi had seen. Of course, it was a shame that she had contracted a incurable disease that caused her to die leaving behind two sons that would grow up beautifully.

Then the sons of Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha.

Obito, considered a dead last in every term, had surprised everyone after him becoming a genin. His growth was commendable, but his chakra control was horrible. But still, Obito had proven he was worthy of the blood in his veins, even in his dying moments. He was a manifestation of the Will of Fire and even now his comrades toast a drink to his immortalized act of selflessness that triggered the beginning of the end of the Third Great Ninja War. While there would be no songs about him, he would be remembered by those who were there in the war.

His younger brother Shisui Uchiha, the Teleporter. A prodigy that rivaled Itachi, or perhaps even surpassed him in ways that could not be measured by normal shinobi skills, he was considered to be one of the next possible elite shinobi that would usher in a new era, however his untimely and mysterious death had halted that as well. His proficiency with the Body Flicker Technique was such that people assumed he used a jutsu similar to the Hiraishin. Shisui could leave afterimages in his wake with his speed. He could cast genjutsu at a long range and had a larger than normal fire affinity. He was considered a balance between his parents and a true prodigy.

Naruto however had hidden his skills for years.

Kakashi himself was mentally slapping himself to even think that Naruto would not turn out to be a genius.

It was clear by now that Naruto was easily a chunnin level shinobi. Jounin level once he used his Sharingan. Then there was the Gunbai he used. He himself had never seen such a weapon before and from the few moments he watched Naruto using it, he understood that it was not easy to control. The Gunbai itself consumed chakra because of the properties it was made from. Naruto also had a large fire affinity if the orange flames were any indication. He had also managed to catch Zabuza in a genjutsu, during his fight with the masked jounin.

This raised another question.

Why did Naruto Uchiha hide his skills?

What was the purpose?

Did he have more secrets?

These were among the many questions said masked jounin had in his head. Naruto could've easily been rookie of the year, though once he thought about it the title didn't mean anything. He also remembered Naruto being a bit distant and cold with everyone. Though he would have a polite outlook covering that stoic visage. It wasn't until Kasumi came into the shared picture with him, that Naruto was becoming a bit more lighter and social with everyone else.

He didn't have that emotionless look in his face anymore. Kakashi was glad and ashamed, to an extent. Glad that the younger brother of his former teammate had come out of his reclusive shell. Shame that he was never there to be a shoulder to lean on. Kakashi could tell that Naruto held no grudges towards anyone. Kakashi was proud at seeing a shinobi like this in this generation.

"Sensei," Naruto spoke up. He had a neutral look on his face. "There's something I'd like to speak to you about."

"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked. Usually the raven haired enigma never made such a statement before, so it was all the more intriguing to the man who knew over a thousand jutsu.

"In private, if you don't mind." Naruto said and he watched Kakashi get up. The silver haired jounin then proceeded to move out of the house. Naruto had gotten up himself. Lunch had gone uneventful and the shift for the day was done. Naruto and Kasumi's shadow clones had immensely helped Tazuna increase the progress and decrease the workload. Naruto then went out. He was sure that if Kakashi gave permission, he'd be able to get Kasumi a gift. A gift she deserved and had every right to keep it.

"Well Naruto what is it?" Kakashi asked. Naruto seemed a bit anxious if the look in his face was anything.

"Sensei." Naruto said. "This may sound weird and this is definitely the wrong time. But... I wanted to take Kasumi out on a date. So I decided to come ask you." Naruto was looking down and berating himself for even saying such a thing.

"Hmmm" Kakashi thought deeply as he put a hand on his chin. He knew that Naruto wasn't lying and people have gone more astray than usual on missions. "Okay."

"I understand. It wasn't- Wait what?" Naruto broke the sentence and blurted out the question. "You're actually allowing me to do that?"

"Well, normally I wouldn't. But since even I haven't seen the true level of your strength, I guess you can fend both for yourself and your girlfriend." Kakashi said with a perverse giggle. Naruto had the decency to blush but the former part of that sentence struck the chords of his attention.

"Hn." Naruto grunted, much against his better judgement. "I guess there's no point in hiding it. Is there?"

"Nope. Though I shouldn't be surprised." Kakashi said. "Everyone in your family was just as strong."

"That's true. But I want to be stronger." Naruto said as he looked at the pier beside Tazuna's house. He knew that Kakashi would sooner or later figure out his true battle capacity. It was always just a question of how long. "Aren't you going to ask why I hid my strength?"

"Aren't you going to ask why I hide my face with the mask?" Kakashi replied cheekily. "Relax Naruto. We all have our secrets. Honestly, at first I was worried. I even considered you a flight risk after I saw your Sharingan during the bell test. But later on I realized something. You were willing to break away the walls you so carefully crafted when it came to Kasumi's life. I know for a fact that if a fraction of a second passed more, you truly would've killed yourself then and there."

"I don't mean to sound cheesy sensei. But... Kasumi is... well... for the lack of a better term, my life's goal right now." Naruto replied as he smiled. He could freely admit that. He didn't want to hide that.

"That's true. A few years ago, Naruto Uchiha had just ignored everyone. He went about his own business. He wasn't even seen leaving the Uchiha Compound at times. He just stayed in the empty clan compound. Even Sasuke moved away from there, to get suppress the memories. You however, steeled your resolve. You took care of the compound and you weren't affected by it as much as he was. That really is something some shinobi should take out of your page." Kakashi said.

"Yeah. But sensei I would appreciate if you kept my strength a secret for now." Naruto humbly requested.

"Don't worry I will. But I need you and Sasuke to cooperate more." Kakashi said.

"I try sensei. But the boy won't listen." Naruto said followed by a sigh. "I can understand why he wants to get stronger. It's just his personality could use a serious adjustment. He was always glary, even before the massacre. And ever since, Tachi nii ... you know, he refuses to accept the fact that he needs people."

Naruto and Kakashi then heard yells coming out of the house. He then saw Inari rushing out of the house, fresh tears flew like dew in the wind. Naruto sighed.

The previous day he had heard the story about Kaiza. A person considered a local hero of Nami no Kuni. He was the closest thing to a father figure the boy had. Then Gato had executed him in the main town as if a show was going on. The boy's mind became warped after that and Naruto concluded that he lost hope that they would ever be free. He then saw Kasumi dash out of the house, in a rage mode. Naruto could only shiver at the sight.

Her eyes had become white and her hair was dangerously flowing up, forming the shape of nine very dangerous hair bangs that resembled a scene of great pain and furious anger. Kakashi too had a sweat drop.

"I... should probably try to save a few people." Naruto said as he followed the orange target in his eyes. Kakashi left alone sighed.

"Goodness. Kasumi is too much like Kushina san. Even their rage induced states are similar." Kakashi then took out his book. "Come to think of it. Naruto does act like sensei a bit. Calm and collected all the time, figuring out what the enemy will try to do and always making sure to hide you full capabilities. I wonder if it's a genetic thing thing going on."

* * *

A Little Bit Away from the House.

"Where are you you pint sized, toothless-" Kasumi was saying before Naruto cut her off.

"Sumi." Naruto said with a little bit of fear in his voice. "Is something wrong?"

"That kid!" Kasumi all but yelled. "How dare he?! I get that his hero died... but that doesn't give him the right to say that heroes don't exist-ttebayo! When I free this country I'm gonna make sure that kid bites his own tongue!"

Before she could continue, she felt Naruto's lips press against her and his arms snaked across her waist. They wrapped themselves around her and pulled her deeper into the kiss. Soon, their tongues entered the fray as both of them ravished each other's mouths. Suddenly, Naruto pulled away and Kasumi pouted with pinks staining her cheeks.

"Mou... why'd you stop?"

"Well." Naruto said as lightly pecked her on the lips once more "To calm you down of course."

"Cheater." Kasumi said before grabbed one of his arms and was walking with him. "Wait shouldn't we go back to the house?"

"Nope." Naruto said. "The shift is done for the day, courtesy of Naruto & Kasumi Shadow Clone Service. Tazuna san said that from now on we should make more clones as they speed up the process."

"Yay!" Kasumi cheered herself on. "Wait where are we going then?"

"Well I told Kakashi sensei that I'm taking you on a date and he allowed it." Naruto said as Kasumi grinned in joy. "But we're not going on a date."

"Mou... then where are we going?" Kasumi asked.

"Kasumi... do you know what the name of this country was called before it was named Nami no Kuni?" Naruto asked as he had an all-knowing smile on his face.

"No..." Kasumi said with a deadpan expression. "You know I don't like history that much Naru."

"True." Naruto said. "Before Nami no Kuni, this country used to be surrounded by whirlpools all the time. The name of this country was Uzu no Kuni."

"Uzu no Kuni? Land of Eddys?" Kasumi asked.

"Yes." Naruto replied as they went south in the direction of the main town. "This country did have a ninja village when it used to be called Uzu no Kuni. The village was known as Uzushiogakure. The Hidden Eddy Village. They were large allies of Konoha. But they also had a lot of enemies. In particular, Kumogakure and Iwagakure. They had combined their forces and wiped the Hidden Eddy. They were afraid of them and their main clan." Naruto finished.

"Who were the main clan of Uzu?" Kasumi asked and Naruto chuckled. "What's so funny Naru?"

"I thought you would've figured it out by now." Naruto said and Kasumi tilted her head in confusion. "The main clan of that village was the Uzumaki Clan."

* * *

Two Hours Later, The Remains of Uzushiogakure, Nami no Kuni.

"That's!" Kasumi gasped as she saw the spiral symbol every chunnin and jounin flak jacket had on it's back.

"Yes. The same swirl that all of us bear on our backs once we are promoted from genin. The symbol of Uzushiogakure. This is the original village of your clan Kasumi." Naruto said. It was nothing but a barren skeleton of itself. Most of the structures were destroyed and lying in the waters.

Naruto and Kasumi then kept walking until they arrived at a broken tower. It was scarred by time itself. The green moss covered the infrastructure and the red paint of the tower had become a blood clot brown. Yet there was a certain aura about the tower. Both of them entered and surprisingly found it much better maintained than the external features.

Soon both of them came to a door, but the door wouldn't open. Naruto tried several times but it wouldn't budge. As soon as Kasumi touched it though, it opened. Naruto whistled in awe.

"The beauties of Fuuinjutsu." Naruto said. "Looks like this is a Blood Recognition Seal like the one Shisui made. Only this one can identify your genes as an Uzumaki."

"Sugoi." Kasumi said and noticed that once she stepped into the room, Naruto couldn't.

"It's because of the seal Kasumi." Naruto said. "You have sealing scrolls with you right Kasumi?"

"Yeah I do." Kasumi said.

"How many?" Naruto asked.

"About five large." Kasumi replied. "Do you want me to do something?"

"Well it's about our fuuinjutsu." Naruto said. "I have knowledge and books that pertain knowledge upto Level Six. If you find the ones above Level Six make sure you seal it and bring it. After all, you are the heiress of the Uzumaki Clan."

"Baka!" Kasumi said as her cheeks flushed red. She had never even thought she would be a part of a clan. Much less be the heiress and visit the place which housed her clan. All this was nearly too much to take for her. She knew that Naruto brought her here to make her happy. "Fine. Anything else?"

"If you see anything you like, seal it and bring it. It's all yours anyway." Naruto said as Kasumi grinned like a mad scientist and disappeared into the room.

* * *

Two Hours Later, Outside the Tower.

"She must be sealing a lot of things." Naruto said. His ears then picked up some noises. He went forward to the Forest section and saw a baby wolf cub. A large wild boar was chasing it. Naruto saw the cub and immediately rushed to save it from the hog.

Placing the cub on a tree branch, Naruto threw his kunai and multiplied it with Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. One kunai became nine as it pierced the hog and killed it. Naruto got near the wolf cub and gently patted it on it's head.

"There we go little guy. I hope you're fine." Naruto said with a smile. The little wolf was a ebony black in color with some shade of blue around it's eyes. It's irides were a striking grey that sunk into you.

"Thanks." A child like voice came from the wolf cub.

"Yes you're- WHAT THE FUCK?!" Naruto jumped back as he realized the wolf cub had spoken. "Y-Y-You can talk?!"

"Of course I can. Name's Garoujin. Pleased to meet ya." The cub replied while raising one of it's paws. Naruto brought his hand in the ram seal and released some chakra while saying 'Kai.' He opened his eyes to see the cub looking at him strangely. "Something wrong buddy?"

"Oh...nothing." Naruto sighed. "How can you talk and where are you from?"

"I'm from Kabe no Kita. I can talk because I'm a direwolf." Garoujin said.

"Kabe no Kita? Sorry but I never heard of that place before." Naruto said. "Wait ... are you summon?"

"Well we are but we've never had a summoner before." Garoujin said. "Wait... OH CRAP... Dad's gonna kill me?"

"What do you mea-" Naruto didn't get to finish as a large puff of smoke appeared next to them.

It towered the forest. Far above the heights of a tree a mighty beast stood. It was pure white in color and had a red tail swinging in the air. The jaws of the beast were massive and it's eyes were a steel grey color. It had red markings around it's eyes. Finally the mouth of the beast opened.

" **Human...** " the beast spoke. The voice was deep and loud. It commanded respect. " **What are you doing beside my cub... May I ask?** "

"I found him here." Naruto said as he had instinctively activated his Sharingan. The beast looked at him somewhat impressed. Naruto wasn't afraid, even if he was he wasn't showing it.

"Yeah Tou san. He even saved me from that wild hog." Garoujin said as he pointed to the dead boar.

" **Is that so?** " the loud voice of the wolf asked.

"Yes." Naruto replied as he took Garoujin into his hands. and was going near the large wolf. He placed the cub near his father's paw. "Your dad's here now Jin. See you around."

" **What's your name ningen?** " the wolf asked.

"Naruto Uchiha." Naruto replied and the wolf sat down.

" **You're different from most Uchiha**." the wolf said.

"I've heard that too many times to be honest." Naruto replied. He then took out a something from his pouch before going over to Garoujin. It was a vial containing a pain relief liquid. "Stick out your arm Jin."

"Eh?" Garoujin asked in confusion as the large wolf stared at the two. "What for?" Naruto pointed out to a bruise on his leg and the wolf seemed surprised that Naruto noticed a scrape like that.

"Here this should help. You probably didn't even realize that you were injured." Naruto said as he finished covering the area with the pain reducing fluid.

"Thanks man. Wait I should give you something... I know! Hey tou san?" Garoujin spoke up. "He could be a summoner of dire wolves you know."

"Oi oi Jin!" Naruto said as he looked at the little cub. "Don't say things like that."

" **Actually he's right.** " the large wolf spoke. " **We've never had a summoner before. I don't see the harm in having one. Plus for an Uchiha, you really are quite different. You also helped save my idiot son when he was told not to come to these lands. Consider this my way of thanking you.** " The wolf then made some hand seals with his hand like paws and a large scroll appeared. It landed right in front of Naruto. The scroll was opened by the wolf and he looked at Naruto. " **Sign your name here with your blood ningen. Do not refuse this offer. No human has ever had the pleasure of summoning direwolves to their aid. Plus, we'll get to see if you humans are worthy of summoning direwolves to aid them in combat.** "

"Okay." Naruto bit his finger and signed his name in one of the empty columns. The name glowed for a bit and then turned black. "Honestly speaking I'm kind of glad how this turned out. But where is exactly is Kabe no Kita?"

" **Have you heard of Mt. Myoboku?** " the wolf asked and Naruto nodded. Naruto had read extensively about the sannin Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze. Both were toad summoners of Mt. Myoboku " **Figures. You humans hear about toads but you don't hear about dire wolves. It is an area similar to the Sage Regions. The only difference is that we live on gigantic island. The island is called Kabe no Kita because there is a large wall separating it from the rest of the world. Anyways, my name is Garougenki, the Boss of the Wolves. You saved my cub, for which I gave you the honor of being a summoner of our kind. We shall see just how far you can go Naruto Uchiha.** "

Before Naruto could say something, the duo of father and son disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Nice to meet you too." Naruto muttered to no one. He was inwardly smiling. He got his summoning contract today. He went to the abandoned tower and saw that Kasumi had just come out of the room.

"What were you doing in there?" Naruto asked.

"I found hundreds of high quality storage scrolls. I took them all." Kasumi said as she was grinning madly and had a strange look on her face. "Guess what Naru? I also found scrolls on a taijutsu style, suiton, doton and the remaining volumes of Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu."

"Great work Sumi." Naruto said. "We should go back now. We're going to have to lie you know?'

"Yeah." Kasumi replied. "By the way I noticed you came into the chamber after I came out of the room. What were you doing out there?"

"*sigh* It's complicated." Naruto replied.

* * *

"So you can summon wolves now?" Kasumi asked as she and Naruto were on top of Tazuna's house. Both were sitting and gazing into the endless sky which housed the stars.

"Yeah." Naruto replied. "It's kind of weird really. I did not expect to get much a summoning contract and that too in a manner like this."

Both then silently sat still. Their bodies were leaned against each other.

"Naru." Kasumi spoke up. "What do you think will happen when Zabuza shows up?"

"The same like last time. I think I can handle the hunter nin. You and the others should help Kakashi sensei when the time comes."

"Will you be alright?" Kasumi asked. She did not the know the full extent of Naruto's power but she knew he was the strongest of their age group. That didn't stop her from worrying about him though.

"Don't worry. I am going to be perfectly fine." Naruto replied. Both then headed downstairs to get some sleep. They'd have three to four days more before Zabuza and the Hunter would hypothetically show up.

* * *

Four Days Later, The Pier near Tazuna's House.

"And that takes care of that." Kasumi replied as she kicked the wanna be samurai unconscious. Gato had sent two grunts to kill or capture Tsunami and Inari. Luckily, both Kasumi and Naruto had gone out during their training session and Kasumi was a bit tired, so she overslept. Naruto opted to stay back and bring her with him to the Bridge. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as they swiftly took care of the would be kidnappers.

"Thank you." Tsunami said as she hugged Naruto. Kasumi's eyebrow twitched. She hated that. When women would try to get close to her man. Why couldn't she just say it without hugging him? Would it kill her?

"It's alright Tsunami san." Naruto replied as he was released from the hug, and felt a chill going down his spine. Kasumi had an all too sweet smile on her face. He paled a bit. He then saw Inari crying silently. Naruto put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry Inari. Today... you'll see that heroes do exist. Ike Sumi." Naruto said as he dashed off.

"Inari." Kasumi said as she gave her foxy grin. "Remember what I said. I'm gonna prove my words and make you eat yours." Kasumi then chased behind Naruto.

"Kaa chan." Inari spoke. "Will those two... really free us?"

"I don't know sochi." Tsunami replied. "But if they can't, no one will."

"Kaa chan let's go to the town." Inari said.

"Why?" Tsunami asked.

"We're going to fight... just like Kaiza."

* * *

The Unfinished Bridge.

*CLANG*

Sasuke and the Hunter Nin clashed with their kunai. Sasuke's chakra reserve has increased along with his control over it. He is smirking not because of his arrogance, but because of his confidence. Ever since the confrontation with Naruto a few days ago he understood one thing. Naruto does not care about his authority. He does not care that Sasuke is from the Main House. The confrontation also gave Sasuke a new understanding.

He would have to take matters into his own hands if he wants to achieve his goals. Which at the moment, was catching up to Itachi and kill him to avenge the clan. He couldn't use any distractions and shoved the thoughts of clan restoration with Kasumi aside, for now.

Now he faces the masker hunter nin. The hunter who was identified as Haku was probably around their age, maybe a year older. He was also skilled, skilled enough to make him feel that riled up for a fight. Sasuke was enjoying the battle. His Uchiha blood trait was blooming in the face of worthy foe.

Kakashi was meanwhile fighting with Zabuza who had returned fully healed from his injuries. Zabuza had once more coated the bridge with his accursed Hidden Mist jutsu. His Executioner Blade was clashed with the two kunai that Kakashi was using as his defense. Sakura Haruno was shielding the bridge builder Tazuna from any other annoyance that may show up.

"Kakashi where's the Uchiha Brat?" Zabuza asked as he slashed at Kakashi once more, who ducked and tried to kick Zabuza who backed off at the last second.

"He overslept." Kakashi replied as he Sharingan eye tried to look for the Demon in the Hidden Mist. "Don't worry though he'll be here soon enough. Along with the last member of our team."

"The Uzumaki brat, huh?" Zabuza's voice said. "I'll be honest with you Kakashi. I never expected to see another Uzumaki. Not in my lifetime. The last time I saw one was the Crimson Death herself. Me and another comrade fled once we saw her cut down members of the Cypher Division like they were nothing."

"I don't blame you Zabuza. Facing Kushina Uzumaki in a sword fight is considered tantamount to suicide." Kakashi replied as dodged the zanbatou coming for his midsection.

"Isn't that the bitter truth?" A new voice said as a barrage of kunai were thrown at Zabuza who deflected and blocked with his mighty sword.

"So the Uchiha brat finally shows his face. And the Uzumaki brat is here too." Zabuza said as he saw the too appear on the bridge.

"Alright no brows oji-san!" Kasumi said as Zabuza's eyebrow twitched violently "It's time to put you down for good-ttebayo!"

"You said that the last time as well gaki." Zabuza said as he chuckled a bit. "Unfortunately for you all of you are going to die. Starting with the duckbutt Uchiha who's fighting Haku."

"I doubt that Zabuza Momochi." Naruto said. "I'll be taking care of that hunter nin and judging by the way she did one handed seals, she must be a Kekkei Genkai wielder."

"Well aren't you a sharp kunai?" Zabuza said. "Her Kekkei Genkai is something that most people can't escape and that boy is going to die."

"Not if I kill Haku first." Naruto said as he moved towards the section where Haku and Sasuke were fighting. Suddenly Naruto stopped and backed away. He felt another presence.

"You're really are sharper than I thought gaki." Zabuza said. "You might as well come out now. The kid's a sensor type."

"Aww man…. All that work for nothing." A voice said as it cut through the mist. The perpetrator then jumped out of the water and walked up the legs of the bridge. He came into the clearing.

He was taller than Naruto by at least half a foot. He had white smooth hair with a light blue tint, it came down to his shoulders. His eyes held black irides. He was smiling and his pointy, sharp teeth resembled something remnant of a shark. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt and light-purple colored pants, that had striped light blue leg-warmers. He also wore black, toeless shinobi sandals. Around his neck bandages were wrapped similar to Zabuza's. A water bottle was attached to the belt around his waist.

On his forehead was a Kirigakure headband scratched out. He had a large sword on his back. It was wrapped in bandages and he was knuckling his fists.

"So you're the gaki who kicked Zabuza san's ass fourteen ways to this day?" the guy asked.

"Why you?!" Zabuza growled.

"Gomen Zabuza san. I know it was Kakashi who beat you. I'm just here to take care of the kid." The guy said as he looked at Naruto once more. "I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Mangetsu Hozuki. One of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist and the guy whose going to have his hands stained in your blood."

Naruto was a bit shocked. To think that Zabuza would bring in another ninja from that group, was astounding and unnerving. That only proved that Zabuza saw Naruto as that much of a threat. Inwardly he felt a bit of pride, but kicked it aside while paying attention to Mangetsu in front of him. The man was smiling and completely relaxed. His sharp teeth gave off a grin that would send shivers down any man's spine.

"Mangetsu Hozuki." Kakashi spoke up. "The Second Coming of the Demon."

"Hey the Copy Ninja knows who I am! Well at least this day is going moderately well." Mangetsu said and then looked at Kasumi and whistled. "Who's the hottie?"

"Oi Jaws ripoff!" Kasumi yelled. "The name's Kasumi Uzumaki and don't you dare whistle again-ttebayo!"

"Geez what a temper." Mangetsu said with a sweat drop. "Uzumaki….. Haven't seen one before. Aren't all Uzumaki supposed to have red hair? Oh wait there is some red in your hair."

"Can we focus?!" Zabuza growled. "Mangetsu you take on the Uchiha brat. I'll take care of Zabuza and the others. Haku should be killing that other gaki soon." Naruto was about to move towards Sasuke but a sudden attempted slash stopped him from going any further. Mangetsu had tried to hit him with his bandaged sword.

"Ah ah ah…" Mangetsu said "We've got a fight to death Uchiha san. Let's not keep the Shinigami waiting."

"Sumi, go and help Sasuke." Naruto said as he put his hand on the handle of Hitokiri.

"Nani?!" Kasumi said. "But what about you and shark teeth here?"

"I have a name!" Mangetsu said.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of him." Naruto said as he activated his three tomoe Sharingan. "Go and help him defeat Haku. He'll need your help."

"Fine!" Kasumi yelled. Then she went into menace mode as she made her threat. "You better win your fight Naru and come out in one piece…. Otherwise they'll be hell to play." She then headed towards the section the fight was going on.

"That was….. scary." Mangetsu said as a visible sweat drop formed on top of his head. "You are so whipped."

"Mangetsu san. I'd rather face you and Zabuza then stand in her path when she's angry." Naruto said.

"Tell me about it. Sometimes women get angry for no reason." Mangetsu said in a non chalant manner.

"Yes. And the worst part is all our defenses become virtually useless. They always get the last word." Naruto said accordingly, not believing that he was casually speaking with the person he was about to have a deathmatch with.

"Absolutely! Kami! Finally, someone who understands me. And when things don't go their way they just ye-"

"JUST FIGHT ALREADY!" the collected yells of everyone on the bridge came, directed towards the two soon to be combatants.

"Fine" both Mangetsu and Naruto said with a whine.

"You know Mangetsu san." Naruto said as a grin threatened to break on his face. He would be facing an elite shinobi on his own. "We could just walk away from this."

"Yeah we could" Mangetsu replied as his hands were twitching on the blade. "But where's the fun in that?"

"So do we do this as swordsman or ninjas?" Naruto said.

"Well…. Considering that both of us are here with our own different reasons to fight, there's no point in just locking blades." Mangetsu said as he took his stance with the blade. "We might as well go all out."

"Agreed." Naruto said as both he and Mangetsu jumped off from the bridge. Both shinobi landed on the surface of the water and stood away from each other.

"Before we fight I should introduce myself, seeing as you've done it as well." Naruto said. "Naruto Uchiha."

"Shisui Uchiha's little brother. Zabuza san told me about your bloodline. I guess that makes you Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha's son. One day I'm gonna tell my kids how I beat their son." Mangetsu said.

"Or I'll tell my kids how I beat one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist." Naruto said with a smile.

"Well then are we just going to stand here?" Mangetsu said as he took the stance once more "or kill each other already?"

"Agreed" Naruto replied.

Both shinobi then dashed off towards each other. Mangetsu untapped all the bandages and revealed a blue blade that was large and Naruto unsheathed Hitokiri, the black blade gleamed with the red edge shining. Both have their own ideals and reasons to fight. However only one will survive.

As soon as they got near, Hitokiri met with the giant blade as the shockwave from the strikes sent miniature waves behind the sword wielders. Both had grins on their faces.

'This is going to be good.' Both shinobi thought at the same time.

* * *

 **Yeah Gonna end this one here. Sorry about that guys. I wanted to finish the chapter with the fight, but I have some ideas for the fight since this is one of the few fics that probably mention Mangetsu. I intend to make a good fight scene out of the two. Rest assured that the wave arc will end in the next chapter. I hope you guys liked the summon I gave to Naruto. Please don't say dragons, that has been used many times. But direwolves, now that is something I am yet to see in a naruto fanfic. The trip at Uzushio was small because I did not like to stretch it out more than it should. Anyways, if you guys liked the chapter make sure to leave a follow or favorite. Also remember people as Vision Dominican said,**

 ** _"Lack of reviews is the greatest killer of fan fic writers out there. We at the institute wish to let the public know of how they can pitch in to save our dying writers."_**

 **It is true. The review play a large part on us authors so I ask all of you to give reviews not only to me but nearly every story you read. Your opinions matter a lot. Anyways I'll see you guys in the next chapter of the Uchiha Prodigy or the Shinobi Mage. Until then take care. Ja ne =D**


	14. Battle On the Bridge and Wave Conclusion

**Hey Listen!**

 **Look!**

 **Listen!**

 **He-!**

 ***CRUSHES NAVI***

 **Thank Mr. Popo in Kami's Lookout. It finally stopped. Oh hey guys I didn't see you there I was busy crushing an annoyance. Regardless, I want to thank all of you for having the patience of sticking with my story from the very beginning. A lot of you have given some very warm reviews in regards to including Mangetsu Hozuki in the fanfic. Honestly, I did not expect such a reaction from all of you. I was expecting flames and blames. Imagine my surprise when I read that including Mangetsu was the best thing I did about the chapter. If you will go back to the previous chapter you will see that I have edited the part with the Direwolf Contract. Yes, I know it was badly rushed and I had immediately decided that I would edit it. If you haven't seen it, I recommend you check it out. So today's chapter is going to be the final chapter in the Wave Arc. Yes I am no longer dragging out the good old bridge story anymore. Secondly, and more importantly I AM SO SORRY! I know I usually don't take this long to update the chapters but due to some unavoidable and time consuming circumstances, I couldn't finish the chapter in time. But first we will have fights, and I just want to make clear one thing. I am not good at writing fight scenes…. Or lemon scenes….. or dramatic scenes…. Or romantic scenes…. Or touching scenes….. or humorous scenes**

 **WHAT THE FUCK AM I GOOD AT?!**

 ***sigh***

 **Sorry about that…. It's frustrating sometimes.**

 **Oh and BTW….. a personal note: This is to all the people who read the Uchiha Prodigy. Thank you for making this humble story reach a hundred thousand views. Yes… I finally reached that 100 Thousand view mark. I know it may not seem that much to people, but I started writing here just for the sake of it. So watching the fact that more than a hundred thousand people read it makes me feel glad that I had decided to take up the keyboard and started typing out some childish ideas.**

 **Let's just go on with the show. Please go easy on this one, okay guys?**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

Steel met steel. The two swords wielded by the shinobi facing each other in mortal combat were trying to overpower each other. One was succeeding; the other was being pushed back. Naruto Uchiha was mentally cursing himself. He was good with a katana, there was no doubt about that… but compared to someone like Mangetsu Hozuki who was swinging his blade like it was an extension of his arm was a different case altogether. They had both rushed at each other and had struck at the same time as Naruto's Hitokiri met the large blade that Mangetsu had kept bandaged.

It was a wide, flat blade with two curve indentations near the base creating a sort of cross-guard. Two handles were connected to one another and by a short length of cord. In appearance, it looked like a flounder fish. The sword was heavy there was no doubt about that, if the shift in weight crushing down on Naruto was any indication. Naruto being the shrewd shinobi he was, kept some senbon sealed in his mouth as he fired them at Mangetsu who was quick enough to move his neck to side. He jumped back at the same time as Naruto.

"That was a cheap shot" Mangetsu said as he grinned once more taking his stance with the blade. "I like that about you."

"Shinobi don't play fair the last time I checked." Naruto said. He took up the Kassatsu stance. He gripped the handle with both hands as he stared down at Mangetsu who had also taken up his stance. Naruto assumed that it must be a style that only fits this sword alone. Naruto was patient he was not going to attack first. He would counter whatever move Mangetsu would come up with.

True, Mangetsu was a better swordsman than him but Naruto's Sharingan should be able to even the odds. But the biggest difference between them was the experience one had over the other. Mangetsu was skeptically staring at Naruto absorbing whatever information he could from the stance. He had not seen it before. Slowly he could feel his own patience growing thin. The genin before him was completely relaxed and his breathing was timed.

"Aren't you going to attack?" Mangetsu asked.

"Maybe…. Maybe not. Who can say?" Naruto said with an emotionless tone. He could see that Mangetsu was slowly building up chakra and soon enough the shark toothed swordsman appeared before him and brought down the sword with full force. Naruto somehow evaded the strike and weaved around the blow and went for a slash at Mangetsu. However, the ex-Kiri shinobi anticipated it and pulled his sword towards him to barely block the slash. It was a powerful one too, there was a circular arc that formed from the slash. It was pure instinct that saved him from the slash.

Then Mangetsu smirked, he spun his sword making Naruto go back a bit and then the young Uchiha's eyes widened at the sight.

" **Hiramekarei: Kaiho/ Hiramekarei: Release"** Mangetsu said as the flounder fish shaped blade changed its shape to become a large hammer with spikes protruding everywhere. Naruto used a Kawarimi to avoid being mincemeat. Naruto panted a bit not from being tired, from the sheer turn the blade and the battle took. He was lucky and he knew it.

"That's just rude is what that is." Naruto said as he took up the stance once more. Mangetsu lifted the hammer sword like it was nothing and held it against his shoulders. "I can only assume that the sword can take various other shapes as well."

"Woohoo!" Mangetsu said as he looked at Naruto. "Not bad Naruto. You figured it out. But I gotta ask what is up with your kenjutsu? Never seen a style like that before. Where did you learn that from?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naruto said as he rushed towards Mangetsu.

Soon enough the sword reverted back to its original shape and two swords clashed once more. Sparks flew, metal clanged and each strike was being cancelled out by the other. Naruto's Sharingan was countering nearly every move that Mangetsu was making but slowly Naruto noted that Mangetsu was still breathing at the same rate he had been since they started fighting. He had counted on the weight of the blade to tire him out a bit. This only meant that Mangetsu had mastered the sword to a great extent and didn't tire easily from using it. Then blue chakra formed around the large blade as it tried to slash Naruto from nearly every opening. Naruto was no longer on the offensive, he was merely blocking all the strikes. Naruto needed to do something about it and went for an attack.

It was reckless, it was something that could've assured an injury. It was something that he learned from Kasumi. Sometimes, unpredictability trumps natural born talent. Naruto broke his own defense and went into an attack stance. He shifted the sword back and made a swirling jump towards Mangetsu who was caught off guard as his blade managed to cut a little bit of Naruto's cheek but he wasn't fazed.

" **Kassatsu-ryu: Mugen no Itami/ Life or Death Style: Endless Pain"** Naruto made a swipe with his blade as a slash diagonally appeared on Mangetsu's upper body. He was bleeding but it wasn't that much of a damaging attack. Mangetsu had somehow moved back at the last second to avoid being slashed. The black blade was gleaming for murder as the red edge nearly glowed. Mangetsu grinned.

"Damn kid! That was going to be one hell of a slash." Mangetsu said. "Risky too. Didn't expect you to pull of something like that out of nowhere."

"Well I am against one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman. Rules are out of the question." Naruto said as he took the stance once more. He was annoyed as his brows furrowed together. He wasn't surprised that Mangetsu was able to avoid the slash, what pissed him off was that he was banking on the attack to do a little more damage. Years of honed instinct is what allowed Mangetsu to not have a large slash on his chest and abdomen.

"You forgot something kid" Mangetsu said. He chanted the same words as before and this time Hiramekarei, as Naruto assumed its name was, turned into a longsword. The blue chakra surrounding its body was very visible and twisting around. "Hiramekarei here has many forms to go by. Let's see how you do at a longer range."

"Tch." Naruto scoffed in annoyance. The guy was taking him lightly and this was starting to annoy Naruto. Naruto knew the now he couldn't let his emotions get the better of him. He sheathed his katana and sealed into his forearm.

"Hey!" Mangetsu all but yelled. "What's the big idea?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Why would you sheath your sword now? Are you trying to insult me you brat?" Mangetsu was pissed. This was probably a blow to his honor as a reputation.

"I'm not insulting you or anything. I am just going to use something that's better suited for that annoying sword of yours." Naruto said as he unsealed his other two weapons from his wrist. In his left hand was the Gunbai, Haohmaru, and in his right Shikyoh, the kusa. Naruto was much better at handling these two at the moment and had a better chance of winning.

"Man….. I thought Zabuza-san was lying when he said you use a Gunbai. You're in the wrong day and age kid." Mangetsu said as he suddenly jumped forward and struck his sword against Naruto. To his surprised, the Gunbai blocked the entire blow of Hiramekarei. Naruto used Haohmaru to push him back and nearly struck him with Shikyoh.

"You were saying?" Naruto asked as he smirked. He took up the stance Muramasa had sent him, it was called the Gekka stance.

"Not bad at all." Mangetsu said before both were trying to rush each other again.

* * *

"Dammit teme!" Kasumi yelled as she avoided another barrage of senbon being thrown at her. She took out the kunai from the pouch behind her and deflected some that were aimed for her shoulder. Sasuke was dodging and deflecting as well. For the last four minutes and thirty five seconds, Kasumi has been trying to convince Sasuke to calm down and coordinate their attacks. Unfortunately, Sasuke is yet to decrease his pride a bit more.

"Shut up dobe!" Sasuke yelled as his eyes are completely fixed on the ice mirrors that surrounds the two genin. The hunter nin they were fighting against known as Haku, is a Kekkei Genkai wielder. Haku has Hyoton/ Ice Release. It started off with Haku making one handed sign seals, then entrapping both genin in the Demonic Ice Mirrors Trap. Haku was jumping from mirror to mirror which were close, but the speed at which the hunter nin was switching planes was far too fast for their eyes to follow. Right now the two genin were surrounded by more than 15 ice mirrors.

Even Kasumi were to use her chains, she can only go up to seven of them and the mirrors were placed perfectly. Naruto had often advised her to practice with the Kongo Fusa a bit more, but she had focused on kenjutsu based on her stubbornness. A decision she was coming to regret.

*CLANG*

"You two should stop bickering amongst yourselves." Haku's voice told them. Currently he was looking at them from behind. At least, Sasuke and Kasumi were covering each other's backs by keeping an eye out for the young Ice user. "This will only result in your death sooner."

"Urusai!" Kasumi exclaimed as a chain shot out her back towards the source the voice came from. The chain had pierced the ice glass, slowly it was being reduced but Kasumi herself felt drained when she would use the chains. Adamantine Chains not only required high, dense amounts of chakra, but a fair level of control over it too. Otherwise, the user will burn up chakra a lot faster than the chains can move. Still, desperate times called for desperate measures and Kasumi was doing her best.

" **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu/ Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"** Sasuke exclaimed as chakra escaping from his mouth took the form of a fire ball and tried to hit the hunter nin, who somehow evaded the attack and managed to throw a couple of senbon. The senbon found its target as some of them lodged onto Sasuke' shoulder.

"Oi teme!" Kasumi exclaimed. "I don't like working with you so who about just this once we both work together."

"I don't need your help." Sasuke said as he pulled out the senbon out of his shoulder. Blood gushed through and he winced in pain a little. "I will get through this. I will not die here. I have my own goal to achieve." Sasuke's mind shifted back to Itachi. The words he said. To hate him. To get stronger. Try to avenge the clan… if he could.

"Such hate." Hakus's voice claimed. "Your hatred will get the better of you."

"What the hell do you know?" Sasuke yelled. "What the hell do you know about being the last of your kind?!"

"Foolish boy!" Haku's voice broke through. It was laced with emotions. Haku herself did not know why she had opted to do so. But she could not stop herself. Perhaps because they too were like her. The boy had the Uchiha Symbol on his back, a clan that was destroyed seven years ago by a single man known as Itachi Uchiha. The girl was Kasumi Uzumaki, from what she learned from Zabuza the Uzumaki were once one of the most feared clans in the world.

The girl herself was probably one of the few Uzumakis left in the world. A part of her sympathized with them. She knew the pain all too well.

"I am the last of my clan! Do not claim such words when others know of the same suffering!"

Both genin merely stood silent at the words Haku said. Sasuke had seen his entire clan die. Kasumi had gone to the place her entire clan used to live. Both of them had lost their families. The shinobi world had ripped it away from them. Now here was another person. Just like them. Who had lost their way.

"Do you not see the Kekkei Genkai I use?!" Haku claimed once more as she threw a barrage of senbons.

" **Fuuton: Daittopa/ Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"** Kasumi exhaled a large amount of wind jutsu that hit the senbon making them move away from the original target.

"I have been holding back all this time. Just because I thought you two were like me." Haku's voice told them. Their eyes widened at the words Haku said. While it was true they were not hurt in a major way, they themselves had not been able to land a blow yet. "Tell me something… as a survivor of one clan to another? What makes you stronger?" To Haku this was personal for some reason.

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked as she tried to keep her eyes on each of the mirrors.

"Why do you fight?" Haku asked. "What do you fight for?"

This was an important question to the both of them. They were shinobi. Tools to be used. They would take orders and carry out missions. But apart from that, shinobi had their own little lives as well. A small world of their own, where they had their own goals and dreams. It is said that if you are a shinobi and you have lived well past the age of twenty five, you have lived your live fully. An experience shinobi that is.

Sasuke thought about the question. His mind raced at a speed he never thought before. What did he want to achieve? Apart from killing Itachi and then eventually restoring the Uchiha Clan back to it's glory? No answers came to his mind. All he could remember prior to setting his goals after the massacre, was his family. The one thing he had….. the only thing he had… taken away from him by his own brother no less. An event like that can forever change a person. Hatred had taken the better of him. No one could blame him for this. To be an Uchiha, was to breed hatred in one's self.

It was the way of the world. It had happened for generations. It is happening again. Hatred drives Sasuke Uchiha and right now ….. hatred is what will make him stronger. As he opens his eyes remembering all he has been through, his power takes a new leap.

Kasumi Uzumaki. Confused at the words the Hyoton User said. Why does she fight? What does she fight for? All her life…. She was ostracized, avoided and one time she was nearly publicly beaten….

A sad existence that every Jinchuuriki goes through. However, her iron will is what dragged her through all the years. Her determination and guts were something that most shinobi would dream to have. To be the Hokage. That was her goal. It was her goal…. But what did she fight for?

A very vivid picture came to mind. A picture of a boy with bright blue eyes smiling at her and waiting for her. No matter what would happen….. that picture would always be there. He would be there. Kasumi suddenly had a new fire in her eyes. She looks at Sasuke and just for once she is willing to work with the ass to get out of this mess. She stares in surprise. His onyx eyes have changed.

"Teme…. Your eyes." Kasumi said as she pointed towards his ocular orbs. Sasuke in response brought his kunai towards his vision. A vision that was sharper. He looked into the reflection of the sharp kunai and his eyes widened in surprise. No longer were the onyx orbs around. Instead two scarlet irides were found there. Two tomoe in the left eye, and one tomoe in the right eye.

'Sharingan!' Sasuke yelled in his mind. An all too familiar smirk made its way back on to his face. He looked around, the world seemed so much clearer in his eyes. 'It's over now.'

"Oi Teme!" Kasumi said as she pushed him away, a senbon struck where he stood. "Pay attention to what's happening!"

"Tch." Sasuke scoffed as he looked at the spot riddled with a couple of senbon. "You didn't have to push me."

"Well excuse me for saving you duckbutt emo" Kasumi said as she threw some kunai with explosive tags towards the ice mirrors. It exploded too. However, the ice constructed mirror was made to withstand tougher attacks.

"Dobe." Sasuke said as his eyes were darting around the Demonic Ice Mirrors. "We need to finish him off."

"I know that you idiot." Kasumi said not looking at Sasuke. "So you finally ready to work together?"

"Hn." Sasuke hn-ed in approval. "Fine but only this once."

"Mere teamwork will not save you." Haku said. "Let's see what you can do when I don't hold back." Haku's upper half emerged from the Demonic Ice Mirror as she started going through hand seals.

" **Hyouton: Tsubame Fubuki/ Ice Style: Snow Storm Swallows!"** Haku yelled out her attack and extended her palms. A flock of ice chunks emerged from them and took the shape of birds which narrowed in like hawks after their prey. Kasumi and Sasuke were hit in their arms and legs, though they were merely grazed but the sharp beaks of the ice made birds were as deadly as kunai.

"Kuso" Kasumi said as she put her left hand on her bicep. The wound wasn't deep but the effect of it was scathing. Her left arm had two wounds, her right arm had one. She was stabbed lightly by the ice made birds in her left calf. She saw that Sasuke had similar wounds as well. Although, his wounds were more centered near his shoulders. It seemed that Haku was aiming to make sure they don't perform hand seals. Haku had gotten close too.

"Shall we continue?" Haku's voice asked as the Uzumaki and the Uchiha heard the similar ice forming noise once more.

"Get ready Teme!" Kasumi yelled as she unsheathed Ginken. She would cut down all the ice constructs sent her way.

"Speak for yourself." Sasuke said as he went through hand seals.

* * *

"You should give up Kakashi" Zabuza said as he brought down the giant butcher blade upon the Copy Ninja who became the almighty log. Zabuza moved away in time to avoid his nape having a kunai being pierced into it.

"Let's agree to disagree." Kakashi said as he and Zabuza clashed once more.

The mist around here was thicker and Kakashi came to one conclusion. This mist wasn't just made by Zabuza alone. The Hunter Nin and Mangetsu too must have laced the entire mist surrounding the bridge with their chakra. The Sharingan was indeed one of the most powerful dojutsu in the world. But just like every other jutsu, it had its own specific set of weaknesses. This mist was proving itself to be one of them. The Byakugan was a much more fitting situation for this battle ground.

However, Kakashi knew that his experience with his former teammate's Sharingan would no doubt play a large factor in this battle, nevermind the vast amounts of chakra it consumed. Kakashi was caught off guard for a moment when Zabuza appeared in front of him, his palm was extended and right in Kakashi's face.

" **Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu/ Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu"** a circular bubble of water escaped from Zabuza's hand and formed around Kakashi, entrapping him once more in the sphere of water. Zabuza grinned as he caught Kakashi in the Water Prison. "Never thought you'd fall for the same trick twice Kakashi."

Two hands emerged from where Zabuza was standing and grabbed his feet. Zabuza's eyes widened as he saw that Kakashi was underground. The 'Kakashi in front of him poofed up in smoke.

" **Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu/ Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu"** Kakashi's voice confirmed the technique's name as his hands began to pull Zabuza into the ground. However, Zabuza himself turned into a puddle of water. Kakashi emerged from the ground. His right eye was closed as he saw Zabuza clearly now. Zabuza himself was not trying to hide in the mist.

"Getting frustrated are we Zabuza?" Kakashi asked as he drew a kunai.

"It's only a matter of time Kakashi." Zabuza said as he lifted the Executioner Blade. "Soon enough Mangetsu will be done with the Uchiha brat. Haku will take care of the Uzumaki brat and the duck haired boy. As for pinky, I'll kill her last right before I kill the bridge builder."

"You shouldn't underestimate them Zabuza." Kakashi said as he flung some shuriken towards Zabuza, who in turn blocked them all with his zanbatou. "After all there's more than one Uchiha on my team." The kunai in Kakashi's hand was thrown as it had wire attached to it. Kakashi tried to trap Zabuza with the wire, but the former Mist Shinobi saw through the ruse and excellently maneuvered his blade to slice the wire.

"You mean the duckbutt is an Uchiha as well?" Zabuza said as he tried to strike Kakashi and left a slash mark on the white haired jounin's flak jacket. "Looks like there will be two less Uchiha in the world. Make no mistake Kakashi… Haku is stronger than I am."

"Make no mistake Zabuza. The only victors who will emerge from here will be us." Kakashi said. Soon enough the momentary peace was broken as the two men started going through hand seals.

* * *

"Take this!" Mangetsu yelled as he tried to slash Naruto's body in a horizontal fashion.

He hit a log and saw that Naruto jumped out underneath the water. The Gunbai came rushing towards Mangetsu's face and blocked it with the Hiramekarei. Shikyoh was hurled towards him at an awkward angle and left a gash on his back. Mangetsu gritted his teeth in pain. He then grabbed the Kusa and pulled the chain bringing Naruto closer to him. Naruto got kicked in the stomach and stumbled back, wind was knocked out of him.

"HEEYAH!" Naruto barely managed to block the stinging stab as it hit the Gunbai which protected his chest.

He was forced backwards once more. A weapons fight with Mangetsu was turning out to be futile. At first, Mangetsu had been holding back. But he regretted that decision when Naruto got a few hits on him with the Shikoh and Haohmaru. Haohmaru was the reason he had managed to avoid being killed today in so many different ways. The Gunbai was living up to the promise that Muramasa had promised it out to be. Naruto needed to do something and fast.

He then remembered one of the techniques that Shisui had often showed him. Naruto had gone back home and made a lot of copies and breakdowns of the jutsu Shisui had shown him. Naruto blocked another slash.

HIs body had enough cuts from today. But first, he needed a distraction. He threw some smoke pellets and Mangetsu rushed in quick. Just as Hirakmekarei was about to strike the young Uchiha, Mangetsu pulled back. The patience and the timing seemed too perfect to the white haired swordsman. Soon enough, Naruto had exploded. It was quite an effective explosion.

"Kid knows how to blow up his clones." Mangetsu said as he waited for the steam to die down a bit and locate his target. Finally, his wish came true and Mangetsu just looked around at the scene before him. "What is this?"

Surrounding Mangetsu were at least eight Narutos. All of them had drawn their tanto as the Sharingan was calculatingly observed Mangetsu. Then four of the clones rushed in. Mangetsu sighed in annoyance, and saw that one of the clones was in his range. Disappointingly, Mangetsu made an arc of death rushing towards the clone. Then the blade passed through the clone. Mangetsu was in shock, his state was so dazed he could not anticipate a blow from a tanto coming to his back.

Mangetsu hissed in pain. He tried to attack a few more times but each time the attack passed through the clones. Within a few seconds he would be hit again. This time, Naruto's strikes came directed towards his arms. Mangetsu realized that Naruto was aiming for his arms to decrease the mobility. Thus, making sure that his swordplay factor decreases its lethality.

After a few more time, Mangetsu noticed that the concessive hits had decreased and the time between each blow was increasing. Mangetsu took that chance and once more released the Hiramakarei, this time the long sword had morphed into two split swords.

Mangetsu was then anticipating the hits, soon enough he could predict where the attack would come from but Naruto would switch with a clone at the last second. However, experience was something that Naruto didn't have and soon enough, due to his inexperience with the technique he had let his guard slip and found a very nasty gash on his shoulder. He clutched the injured shoulder, muttering curses about swordsman and their battle instincts.

"One surprise after another." Mangetsu said as he twirled the twin blades around. They were glowing with the blue chakra making a humming noise. "Mind telling me what that was?"

"So you can figure it out and use it against me?" Naruto asked as he panted. "No thanks. Besides, I think I'll be making sure you don't use that sword now."

"Huh?" Mangetsu asked as he looked confused. "Kid you weren't able to outdo me in a swordfight. You're good…..way too good to be a genin. But the real reason you couldn't beat me straight is because I am a better swordsman. I'm not being cocky mind you." Mangetsu said. It was true. He was nonchalant, lazy and aloof. He was even a conceited fool if one were to say. But he was never arrogant, that was why his potential among his peers was nigh unrivaled.

"You're right. In a swordfight I can't beat you… Not yet anyway." Naruto said as he sealed the tanto into his right forearm. The gash on his shoulder was going to play a problem in his plan. But he had already made one plan, what mattered was following up the next steps which no doubt would turn this battle into one of ninjutsu.

"So you know your limits. That's a good thing. I guess you'll live longer than the average shinobi." Mangetsu said as he placed the blades casually on his shoulder. "But if you can't disarm me…. How were you planning to get rid of the Hiramekarei from me?"

"Well. I noticed one thing from our battle." Naruto said as he had a small smirk on his face. That smirk was radiating danger levels to Mangetsu. "Initially, you weren't fighting seriously. Then after receiving a few blows, you lost your little temper-"

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Mangetsu cried out while pointing a blade at the Sharingan user.

"I noticed you were coming with every intention to kill. Every swing should've injured. Had it not been for my Gunbai, I would have lost a long time ago. But therein I found a little weakness to your blade."

"Oh really?" Mangetsu asked with a toothy grin. "Do tell."

"You're blade is exceptionally powerful. Just like the other six blades of the Seven Ninja Swordsman." Naruto said. "The two greatest drawbacks your sword has is the fact that it's been draining your chakra ever since you released the new forms. The other is that the Hiramekarei is a very heavy blade, even by zanbatou standards. That is the fact that caught me off guard combined with your deadly proficiency."

"Oh shucks! You're making me blush" Mangetsu said as he waved his hands about being praised by Naruto on his skills. "But you're right about the heavy part. The chakra part won't be a problem. I've got enough to carry around with me."

"True." Naruto said as he made a ram seal with one hand. "But how long can you swing that blade without breaking your arm?"

"What the heck are you on about?" Mangetsu said as he took a stance with the Hiramekarei twin blades.

"Did you not notice something? When I made that combo with my clones, I hit you a lot more times in the beginning. It began to nearly disappear during the middle stage before I attacked you once more. You were forced to make Hiramekarei twin blades before you got a few hits on me and gave that nasty little scar."

"I don't like living in suspense kid." Mangetsu said as he was a bit on edge now. He was a little curious now though. Every word that Naruto said was right. Mangetsu was under the impression that Naruto was being careful. "So you gonna tell me or does Mr. Mangetsu have you cut it out of you?"

"Here's the answer." Naruto said as he brought the ram bearing hand seal near his face. " **Fuin** / **Seal**!"

Immediately, Mangetsu felt heavier. Not just his blades. His arms and shoulders also felt heavier. He was dumbfounded and saw the reason behind his immobility. He found strange black, kanji markings on the Hiramekarei twin swords, and on his arms as well. Looking on each shoulder, he found similar sets of kanji sitting peacefully there. He cursed the fact that he had let his guard down.

"Fuuinjutsu." Mangetsu said it like it was poison in his mouth. "Never expected an Uchiha of all people, to be a user of seals."

"Fuuinjutsu is a complex art. I still don't know why people don't find it as useful as I do" Naruto said as he looked at Mangetsu, Naruto had used his brush and quick speed to draw the seals on Mangetsu and his sword.. He knew that eventually Mangetsu would be able to break the seal once he overpowered it with enough chakra, but it would take a significant amount of it. "Give up now Mangetsu-san. There's no need to kill each other."

"As much as I'd like to kid, I can't" Mangetsu said as he let go of the blades. They dropped into the water and rose up, floating carelessly on the surface. The density of the blades didn't change and he was glad. "I've got finish this mission. We need the payment."

"Do you have to kill the bridge builder?" Naruto asked. "He's working on that bridge to free the country. Surely you see how that could benefit the people."

"I do kid." Mangetsu said. "But I've got a civil war going on in my own village. You don't know what that's like. I had to kill many of own friends as they sided with Yagura the Mad Turtle. All this….. every little job I take, the blood I shed of others is to make sure the rebel army can afford to fight. Gato is simply one of those means."

"I see." Naruto said. "You're looking to free your own village from the war it's been plagued by. However, this country's freedom is also important to me. I won't let you take that away."

"Looks like we each have our own set of ideals to go by." Mangetsu said as he moved his arms a bit. In all honesty, it had been a long time since he had seen Fuuinjutsu being used like this before. Other than that, the fuuinjutsu he had seen were sealing scrolls. "Any chance you can lift these seals off me?" He knew it would take some time and more chakra to get rid of the seals and Mangetsu was sure that Naruto had no intention of letting him get that chance.

"No." Naruto said with a smile.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Will you guys leave Wave Country in peace?"

"Pshh."

"You're very mature for your age."

"And you're a red eyed shrewd bastard."

"Hn. White haired sword swallower."

"What did you little Uchiha shit?!"

"You heard me you Mangetsu son of a bitch!"

Both started going through hand seals, and Naruto once more cursed himself.

'Even with those weight seals he's weaving through fast hand seals.'

* * *

"There!" Sasuke yelled as he looked towards a certain Ice Mirror. He threw fuma shuriken at the mirror and Haku escaped the blades. She noticed a chain going up behind her and nearly stabbed her in the arm. Ever since,the Uchiha had awakened his Sharingan he was closely following each of Haku's movements. That combined with Kasumi's chains covering the other blind side, Haku was feeling a bit frustrated. They were forcing her to get serious a bit.

The greatest flaw that Haku had according to Zabuza was the fact that she was far too soft for her own good. She had wanted to be a nurse, but time and war had forced her to grow up fast. Now, here she was masquerading as a hunter nin as she fought two skilled genin from Kekkei Genkai clans just like her. Another reason as to why she was holding back against them. Soon enough she decided to end the match between them.

" **Hyouton: Hi Kasui no Jutsu/ Ice Style: Ice Spike Jutsu!"** Haku yelled the attack of the name as sharp spikes of ice emerged from the ground to injure or maim the two genin who were doing their best to avoid the constructs of pain and death. Soon enough, the two genin realized what Haku was actually aiming for. Kasumi was one side of the spike and Sasuke was on the other. Both genin knew that they were working together well, their collaboration jutsu of fire and wind had cancelled out a few of Haku's jutsus. Then a barrage of senbons came flying in and both genin were struck in various places over their bodies.

Mobility was now compromised for the both of them. Sasuke got the worse dose. Kasumi saw that Sasuke was kneeling down while panting furiously. There were senbon in the frontal portion of his body rather than that of his limbs as Kasumi was targeted. She felt rage building up inside her. Sure she didn't like the stuck up bastard but he was still a comrade.

"Teme!"

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke said as he slowly felt his entire body going numb. Unconsciousness was trying to pry him away from the battle he was in.

"It's no use." Haku said as she stepped out of the mirror. "Soon enough both of you will die and then the rest of your team will follow."

"Why are you doing this?" Kasumi asked as she looked at Haku.

"Because we are shinobi. Tools of death. We each have our purposes and we will fill our own goals, often times at the expense of others." Haku said.

"You think I am going to die here?" Sasuke asked. "I won't die here. I have…. To kill him. I can't die without killing him."

"Soon enough you will die Uchiha-san." Haku replied. "To have a goal is fine, but to let your hatred control you is foolish. Real strength comes from something else. Something far more precious."

"What the heck are you on about? Power is everything…. That's all that one person needs to get stronger." Sasuke said as he felt more of his strength slip with every word.

"Perhaps to you. I draw my strength from being able to aid Zabuza-sama. I am his tool. You may not believe it but he is very precious to me. He saved me from the Kiri Civil War and is the reason I am so strong today. Unfortunately, I must end our conversation here." Haku said as he threw some senbon at Sasuke's neck. The Uchiha's neck was on the receiving end of the senbon and he soon fell into a death like state.

"Teme!" Kasumi called out to Sasuke who wasn't even breathing anymore. "Oi teme! Get up!" Kasumi yelled once more.

"Its no use." Haku said as she started walking towards Kasumi. "And now you will die."

"I won't die." Kasumi said. Her body shook a bit out of rage. Sasuke Uchiha was dead before her eyes. He was a comrade. He was related to Naruto. Kasumi spoke once more. "I'm not going to die here. I've got someone to go back to. You hear me!"

"So you do have someone precious to you after all. If what I'm guessing is right….. that person must be the Uchiha boy fighting Mangetsu right now. Don't worry he'll join you soon enough. As annoying as Mangetsu is, he always gets the job done. And if he can't … I'll make sure of it."

"Don't you dare of even laying a hand on him." Kasumi said as her eyes turned crimson beneath the bangs of sun kissed blonde hair. "You already killed Sasuke, there's no way I am letting you touch…. anyone else!" Kasumi said as a red, vile chakra exploded from her body. Her whisker marks became much more prominent, her teeth became sharper and the nails resembled small claws.

"I'll kill you!" Kasumi exclaimed as a potent and terrifying killing intent flooded the bridge and the area around it. Haku herself was shaken to her by the sheer force of it.

* * *

Kakashi and Zabuza stopped their fight immediately. The malevolent chakra had made its presence known all throughout the area. The two war hardened shinobi stopped dead in their tracks as they were locked in fierce combat. To Zabuza this was something he had never felt before. The sheer killing intent being released from the chakra was enough to kill some civilians or render them catatonic at least. Kakashi knew this feeling all too well. Nearly fifteen years ago he had felt this presence in his village. A night that no one, in Konoha at that time, could ever forget.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Kakashi was sweating bullets at feeling that horrible presence again.

'This chakra….. is it Kakashi?... No even his chakra isn't this terrifying.' Zabuza thought absolutely forgetting about Kakashi at the moment.

'Kyuubi?! Did Kasumi lose control?! No… she couldn't lose control, not with such a complicated seal on her. She must be accessing some of its chakra. If that's the case then, she should be in control. Still I should put down Zabuza now before this drags on for too long.' Kakashi thought as he went through a few hand seals.

" **Raiton: Raikou Hitofuki no Jutsu/ Lightning Style: Lightning Blast Jutsu!"** Kakashi uttered the name of his attack as a great blasting stream of lightning escaped from the one eyed jounin's hands and rushed to strike Zabuza with a furious surge. Zabuza was hit by the jutsu and took some time before being able to Kawarimi with a log. Zabuza's body was letting off smoke from the aftereffects of the Raiton jutsu.

He didn't know that Kakashi could pull of a jutsu like that, it almost felt like as if someone from Kumogakure had performed the jutsu.

"Damn you Kakashi!" Zabuza said as he was still reeling from the attack. It may have been a C Ranked Jutsu, but just like the Great Fireball the power of the jutsu depended on the user. His movements would now be restricted by the effects of the lightning style jutsu.

"I'll be ending this shortly Zabuza." Kakashi said as he engaged Zabuza with no weapons.

* * *

" **Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri / Water Style: Rising Water Cutter!"** Mangetsu said as he slammed his hands into the ground as slicing jets of water emerged to skewer Naruto.

" **Katon: Housenka no Jutsu/ Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"** Naruto said as he exhaled a series of smaller orange fireballs rushing at the jets of water.

Both jutsu collided in mid air as smoke formed in between them. Mangetsu dodged the shuriken that were hidden inside the tinier fireballs. Naruto had hidden shuriken inside the fireballs, so that they could strike Mangetsu even if the flowers of fire died out. Mangetsu was getting a bit tired now. Both Naruto and Mangetsu had managed to land quite a few hits on each other. Both were injured and the seal on Mangetsu's body wasn't helping his situation. He had to expend more chakra to get rid of the seals on him and Hiramekarei. He had gotten rid of the ones on his right arm. But then the vile chakra they were feeling had distracted them.

It had a larger effect on Naruto and Mangetsu capitalized it by removing the other seal on his arm. Seeing that Naruto was still in a daze, Mangetsu blazed through hand seals even though he felt a great pain rushing through his arms and shoulders.

'The little shit added a Pain Inducing Seal as well….. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was impressed.' Mangetsu then toothily grinned as he finished his hand seals. 'But it's still not enough to take me out. Experience is everything kid. And this is where I win.'

" **Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu/ Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"** Mangetsu said as a large water dragon twisted and roared as it rushed towards Naruto who broke out of his daze. Apparently it was the same feeling he had when Kasumi had killed Mizuki.

The Kyuubi's chakra.

He saw the dragon coming in for him and he had to counter fast. He had chakra reserves that far outclassed most chunnins and jounins, but even he had his limits and he did not want to hit that rock known as chakra exhaustion. Throwing caution to the windmill, Naruto blazed through hand seals more faster than he had ever done in his life.

" **Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu/ Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"** Naruto yelled as a large stream of fire was exhaled and took the form of a dragon's head. The orange, flame created draconic head rushed towards its mortal enemy the dragon made of water.

Steam erupted once more and Naruto was panting a bit. The hits that Mangetsu had gotten on him were critical points. He felt the wounds all over his body taking place. The adrenaline was decreasing and Naruto letting his emotions take the better of him, rushed towards the bridge. He still had that plan in effect. Suddenly he felt two sharp pangs of pain on his chest. Blood spluttered out of his mouth.

His upper body had two large slashes going down from his collar bone to his waist. Mangetsu Hozuki was simply standing there with his swords in an X formation. Naruto barely struggled to stay on the surface of the water. Mangetsu looked at the young genin and sighed.

"Sorry." Mangetsu said as he looked at Naruto's body slowly jerking and descending into the water. "For what it's worth, you were far more deserving of a genin Naruto Uchiha." Mangetsu turned the form of Hiramekarei back into its base form. This was a really good fight he enjoyed. Getting rid of the high quality seals that Naruto had placed on him was a hassle and took up quite a bit of his chakra.

Not because they were very high level seals, but because of the fact that Mangetsu did not how much flared chakra was needed to expulse the seals. He had used up excess amounts of it and in a short amount of time too. He started to go back but noticed something strange. The body was descending into the water, but it was fading away?

Mangetsu's eyes widened in fear before he felt pain surging through his body. An electrical surge of pain. He turned around to see Naruto Uchiha standing there. No blood on his shirt. No gaping wounds. Just the scratches and wounds he had before their elemental dragon attacks collided. In that time Mangetsu's eyes widened in realization as to what happened. He moved away as he felt more cuts appearing on his body as jolts of electricity stabbed his nervous system.

Naruto had used **Raiton: Rai no Yaiba/ Lightning Style: Blade of Lightning** several times just before releasing the genjutsu. There were at least nine miniature blades laced with his chakra that cut Mangetsu and shocked him.

"G-Genjutsu!" Mangetsu hissed in pain as if the word was a toxic waste the world could live without. "When?"

"During our swordfight when our eyes made contact." Naruto said. He had placed a double layered genjutsu and made sure to activate it if he were in a bind. In all honesty, the twin slashes from Mangetsu were indeed going to make contact but Naruto activated the genjutsu at the last second to avoid being killed or slashed to the point of bleeding out. "I have to finish this now." Naruto went through a few more hand seals.

There was no need to kill Mangetsu just enough to subdue him and go calm Kasumi down. Naruto stopped the hand seals and rushed at Mangetsu who was shocked at the sight of the amount of lightning chakra surrounding Naruto's closed right fist.

" **Raiton: Dendou Kariyou no Jutsu/ Lightning Style: Lightning Overdose Jutsu!"** Naruto yelled as he slammed his fist into Mangetsu's chest. Electrical particles travelled throughout the young swordsman's body in ridiculous amounts. A non killing version of electrocution was being displayed. Mangetsu yelled in pain. For some reason he felt his body growing heavier by the second. Then finally he fell back quite some distance. Naruto panted as he sat down for a moment.

"You crazy bastard.*pant*. Making me work that hard." Naruto said as he got up.

He needed to get to the bridge. But slowed down once he felt that the chakra was receding. Then he felt a pull on his leg. A whip made of water was tied around his foot and yanked him backwards making him fly in the air. Mangetsu was up once more but you could see the effects of the jutsu on him. Unfortunately, Hirmekarei was in his hand and this time he finally got the slash he looked so forward to today.

A diagonal slash appeared on Naruto's upper body. Blood was freely flowing. He coughed blood. The sheer pain he was feeling was indescribable and incomparable to anything he ever felt before. He saw that Mangetsu was standing over him with his hand mimicking a gun with his index finger outstretched.

"Goodbye Naruto Uchiha. I'm glad I got to fought against someone like you. " Mangetsu said as water formed around the index finger pointing at Naruto's midsection.

" **Suiton: Mizudeppou no Jutsu/ Water Style: Water Gun Jutsu!"**

A bullet of water shot off at a blinding speed from the index finger as it went clean through Naruto's chest. Naruto did not move. He was not breathing. Naruto Uchiha was dead. Mangetsu panted. It was finally over. Blood mixed itself in the water.

* * *

Kasumi was in a blood rage. She had dragged Haku out of the mirror and was thrashing her about. All her battle aesthetics had increased as she got faster and stronger with the bubbling coat of Bijuu chakra around her. All her previous wounds had been healed by the Bijuu in her gut. She then beat down Haku and finally her mask came off. Kasumi hesitated a bit and saw that the hunter nin was a girl, not much older than her. Probably two to three years older at most. Kasumi was feeling bloodlust in her body, but she was fighting it back.

The first time she had killed Mizuki she often had nightmares about it. She was not looking forward to another kill again. Naruto had been able to calm her nerves but it took some time before she got over it.

"Y-you." Kasumi said as she looked at Haku. "Why are you doing this? You're not much older than I am?"

"Because I am Zabuza-sama's tool. I will serve him until I die." Haku said with all her dignity.

"Why do you work for someone like that?" Kasumi said as her eyes were still bearing crimson orbs with slits.

"Because he is precious to me. During the Kiri civil war, my own father sided with the Mad Kage and killed my mother." Haku said as she remembered the incident. She had been trained as a shinobi for years, but tears still made it to her eyes as water flowed down her cheeks. "My father was a part of the unit that killed my mother. Zabuza was also there but stopped the act and killed the others. The death of my mother had a profound effect on him even though he will never admit it. From that day on he raised me and trained me. He is my most precious person. He is for all intents and purposes my is the reason why I came so far and became strong." Kasumi's chakra waned out a bit.

"Why did you kill Sasuke?" Kasumi said as she looked at Haku.

"He's not dead." Haku said as Kasumi's eyes widened. "I merely put him in a death like state like I did to Zabuza."

"Why did you do that? You could've killed us anytime you wanted to." Kasumi said.

"I guess it's because you two are like me. The last of your kind." Haku said as she weakly smiled. Her entire body was in pain. The Kyuubi's chakra was extremely potent and each blow left by Kasumi had devastating effects. She had also let her guard down. She wanted to go and help Zabuza but her body was unable to move. Suddenly she was picked up by Kasumi.

"Come on let's go." Kasumi said as she flung one of Haku's arms around her shoulder.

"Why?" Haku asked. "You should kill me. I'm useless to Zabuza-sama. I have no purpose."

"You said he's like your father right?" Kasumi said as she saw Haku's eyes widened. "I don't know what its like to have parents. But I do have a precious person. And I know would never give up the chance to be with him for the rest of my life. He's the reason why I am strong today. I had no one truly that close to me before him. So… lets go and get your dad. I owe you one for not killing us."

* * *

"Hold him down like that." Kakashi said as he saw his summoning the dogs, hold down a weakened Zabuza. "Let me show you my personal jutsu Zabuza. It was made just to assassinate people." Kakashi started going through hand seals and held down one hand in the lower direction with his other. Lightning chakra wisped and twisted around his hand and Zabuza's eyes widened in fear. The lightning covered hand then made the chakra took the shape of a blade.

'The chakra is manifesting itself….. Is this Chidori?!' Zabuza tried to move but Kakashi's dogs were all too well trained.

" **Raikiri/ Lightning Cutter!"** Kakashi said as he ran off at high speeds but soon enough before he could strike chains had appeared and Kakashi got distracted for a moment and stopped as his hand hit the ground and the place of contact exploded from the sheer force of the chakra. Kakashi the saw that Kasumi was walking towards them with the Hunter nin's arm wrapped around her shoulder and another Kasumi dragging Sasuke on her back.

"It's over Kakashi-sensei." Kasumi said. "We need to heal Sasuke." Kasumi looked at Sakura who was still with Tazuna. She motioned for her to come over and Sakura understood. She slowly took Sasuke's unconscious body and began to carefully extract the senbons.

"Zabuza-sama. We can't keep up this fight anymore." Haku said. "I was beaten."

"Haku! You useless fool!" Zabuza yelled as he was still held down by the dogs. "You're a tool not a-"

"URUSAI!" Kasumi yelled as she looked at Zabuza. "What sort of an idiot are you?! Cant you see how much she cares for you?"

"She's nothing but a tool." Zabuza said as he looked away. He was tired and his eyes may leak out the truth. He indeed did care for Haku, as if she was his daughter.

"Zabuza" Kakashi said as he went near Zabuza. "Make a choice. If you fight, you will die."

"Did you forget there's one more of us?" Zabuza said. 'Mangetsu better not lose this one.'

* * *

"Cant believe I had to use the clan technique on a genin." Mangetsu said as he dragged the large blade across the water. "Zabuza is gonna have my head for this. Too bad you don't have bounty kid, you would've been a fine addition to the Bingo Book." Mangetsu walked away. Then it happened once more. This time his body was on fire.

" **Amaterasu/ Heavenly Illumination!"**

Then Mangetsu suffered once more as the voice reached his ears. Pain resounded. This time his body was on fire. Black fire. Engulfing his body. His skin peeling away. Out of the corner of his eye, he once more saw Naruto Uchiha standing. His shirt was torn. The slash that Mangetsu made was there, but the wound had been closed. It had been forced to close as the entire skin was burned. Naruto Uchiha had used the second and final layer of genjutsu to trick Mangetsu right after the slash.

Naruto used **Katon: San/ Fire Style: Three** a basic fire jutsu used as an exercise. He made flames appear on three of his fingers and withstanding great pain, sealed the large gash on his body closed.

Naruto felt like letting the bastard burn but, using the Mangekyou Sharingan in his right eye he closed it. The cancelling part of the Amaterasu was always more painful than the inflicting part. The reason why he did this was because first he did not feel like killing Mangetsu. He was an honorable shinobi with a steel resolved cause. Two, the vile chakra had receded and Naruto felt the signatures on the bridge relatively calm.

Three, and most importantly he felt several other signatures arriving. He took the burned Mangetsu on his back. A lot of his skin was burned. Naruto was panting a bit as he finally reached the bridge.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said as he finally dropped on his knees. Mangetsu fell on the bridge and groaned in pain, even in an unconscious state. "There are several people coming from that end." Naruto said as he saw a group of people appear at the unfinished end of the bridge. A short fat man was leading them. Naruto finally gave in and fell to the ground. He wanted to rest. He didn't hit the ground. The last thing before closing his eyes, was seeing orange.

* * *

Seven Days Later, Tazuna's House.

"Ow!" Naruto groaned in pain. Kasumi then hit him on the head as a comical bump appeared.

"Stop moving Naru." Kasumi said as she rubbed a bit more of the cream on his chest. Even though he was burned, Kasumi couldn't help but feel the toned chest of his.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Naruto said with a light smile.

"And you aren't?" Kasumi said as she leaned forward and their lips met. Soon enough, their mouths opened and the tongues wrestled with each other for dominance. They broke apart a minute later as a thin line of saliva formed between them.

"Get a room you two." Sakura said as he tried to feed Sasuke, who scowled even more when seeing Naruto and Kasumi exchanging tongues like that.

"This is our room Sakura. Why don't you go to your room?" Kasumi asked as she mumbled a bit.

"You know why? I still don't like them." Sakura replied and after a light glare, Sasuke finally began to eat. His arms were still a bit hurt from the last barrage of senbon. After Naruto had fallen unconscious, Zabuza had agreed to a ceasefire after seeing that Gato had betrayed them only after Kasumi had apparently given a 'Shounen hero face turn speech'. Zabuza and Kakashi had cleaned house, but not before making Gato pay up Zabuza twice the money they were owed and spreading the rest of the money to the people of Nami no Kuni. Mangetsu and Haku had managed to convince Zabuza to help out with the bridge.

Well Haku wanted to do it as a sign of trust and Mangetsu wanted to do it so he could get a rematch with Naruto, who said he'd fight once the bridge was finished. Now the trio were staying at Tazuna's house and saying that the situation at the house was awkward to say the least.

"Hey Naruto!" Mangetsu said as he came into the room. "Did you take my pocky?"

"Why the heck would I take your pocky?" Naruto said to Mangetsu. Such was their behavior. They had nearly killed each other a few days ago and were now acting like they were friends. Even Zabuza sweat dropped at their behavior. Suddenly Mangetsu was pulled away by the ear by Haku wincing in pain.

"Sorry about that the idiot needs to rest." Haku said dragging away the swordsman.

"Haku-chan! Not so hard" Mangetsu said undignifyingly.

"Women." Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time and felt the room temperature drop. Kasumi's hair was flowing wildly. Sakura's fist had veins throbbing in them. Both genin merely gulped. Then manly screams of pain erupted from Naruto, Sasuke and Mangetsu. Zabuza was reading Icha Icha and Kakashi was reading another edition of Icha Icha. Both had exchanged books, don't ask how every jounin apparently has Icha Icha in their pouches.

* * *

Five Days Later, Park, Main Town, Nami no Kuni.

"Hey tou-san." Naruto said as he sat near the white tree. His father's memorial site. The Kiri group had left this morning. Mangetsu did not get to fight Naruto due to Haku's overly excessive sweet smile that promised pain in the highest degree. The bridge was completed yesterday due to all of their efforts and now Konoha nin would leave as well. "I did it. I managed to get the bridge completed with the others. We freed this country just like you did. I am going to be leaving after this. I just wanted to see you one last time. I already took some of the ground from here. I am going to put it in the grave they placed for you at the cemetery. I … really want to stay here and talk with you a bit more. But Kasumi's going to me chew me out if I'm late. I wonder if you and kaa-chan had gone through the same thing… I'll try to visit you when I can. I promise. Until then… take care tou-san. I… hope you're proud of what I'm doing. Goodbye." Naruto got up and started to walk away.

He stopped. He felt a hand on his shoulders. He turned around to see a silhouette of a man. It was nearly glowing as the white glow faded away and it showed a man. The man had light tanned skin. He wore Uchiha Combat Robes and had a ninjato around his waist. He had spiky raven hair and was kindly smiling. Then the figure disappeared.

Naruto blinked in confusion. He had just seen a man looking exactly like his father Genjuro Uchiha stay beside him for a moment and then disappear. He did not know what happened but Naruto had shed a few tears out of happiness and ran towards the finished bridge. He had seen his father.

Soon after Naruto left, a figure appeared near the tree. He wore a black cloak with red clouds on it. He too looked at the flowers Naruto had previously lain near the memorial. He looked at the memorial and stared at it intently. He had raven spiky hair and wore a mask. An orange mask with a swirl formation around his right eye. A lone Sharingan was seen clearly in the eye hole.

The Copy Wheel Eye looked at the direction Naruto had run off to. He had casted a genjutsu on the boy, making him see an illusion of his father. A perfect illusion, that one could even call a reality.

"I'll let you off this once." The man said as he once more turned towards the tree. "I'll be going now. I'll visit some other time when I'm free." The orange masked man said as he disappeared in a swirl through his right eye. Meanwhile on the bridge the people waved goodbye to the people who had liberated them. Team Seven consisting of Jounin Sensei Kakashi Hatake, Genins: Naruto Uchiha, Kasumi Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha were leaving Nami no Kuni with smiles/ smirks on their faces at completing a hard mission.

They crossed the Great Uzumaki Bridge.

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 **FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!**

 **It's finally over… I can rest my fingers. I hope you guys liked how I portrayed the fight scene. I accorded with your wished and I kept Mangetsu. The initial plan was to kill Mangetsu and then Suigetsu would be on a hunt for Naruto for killing his brother. But since you guys wanted him to live, Mangetsu lived. He will also be paired with Haku. Seems to work once you think about the attitude I've given him. Anyways, I hope you guys liked the chapter overall. Hit that follow / favorite button if you liked the story. But more importantly, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.**

 **You don't know how great I feel when you guys decide to review my things. It feels sooooo gooooood. Regardless, that will be all for today and go easy on the review guys. See you next time. Take care till then. Ja ne** **J**


	15. An Interlude - The First Date

**Hey there everyone. Sorry about the late update but if you've read the latest chapter of the Shinobi Mage then you probably know the reason behind this. If not let me give a brief outline. Ahem *cough***

 **I have been very busy ever since December began and it will stay that way until the 28th of December. I have to prepare three presentations, two assignments and write plus perform a fucking drama. Yes, life sure is fucking with me in ways I did not imagine. So expect the Uchiha Prodigy to be updated within eight to ten days in accordance with the last update. Things will stay like this for a while until my semester ends. But enough about my problems let's talk about this shit.**

 **First of all thank you for sticking with my story for such a long time. I truly am grateful to you guys for your never ending support and kind words that made me continue this story. Today's chapter is going to be a filler. A filler as in, you guys are going to get your wish. Naruto and Kasumi are going to go on a date on this chapter. So you can kind of expect this chapter to be a bit short. And one more thing, I am really not that good at writing romance scenes. I am being honest here. So I hope it lives up to the expectations that you guys are imagining it out to be. Oh and before you even think about getting your hopes let me dash them all away. THERE IS GOING TO BE NO LEMON IN THIS CHAPTER. Naruto and Kasumi are fourteen here. Wait until the timeskip, which is probably ….. I donno give me 10-12 chapters.**

 **For those of you who were wondering why Mangetsu's blade passed through Naruto' clones, the answer is Naruto was using Afterimage Clones. His proficiency with the Body Flicker Jutsu is just as good as Shisui's hence his Afterimage Clones have no mass.**

 **No need to waste any more time. Time to read the disclaimer…. See here's the thing, I don't know why everyone writes that 'This is owned by him/her.' Even though it's obvious this is a fan based site. Maybe that's a mystery we'll never solve. In other news kotei no seiryuu, author of 'Jinchuuriki of the Apocalypse' recently added 'A Shinobi in the New World' to his favorite stories. I was like FUCK YEAH!**

 **An important note to all of you. There is an insert music section here. As usual I request that you play the music as your read it. Gives off a really good feel.**

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 **THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PERRIOT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

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Naruto's Backyard, Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto is sitting in the clearing of his backyard. He has several cuts and bruises on his body. He is breathing a bit heavily as he has Hitokiri in his right hand. Before him stands a beautiful woman with purple hair. She is wearing the standard ANBU Uniform, her mask is that of a cat which she is wearing right now even though he knew exactly what she looked like. In her hand is a katana and underneath that mask she is smiling a bit.

A month ago, after the five man squad had arrived they were given a proper payment of an A Rank Mission. Now that Nami no Kuni had properly 'acquired' the necessary funds they had paid the amount for such a task. The Sandaime Hokage had of course first scolded them a bit for taking such a dangerous mission even after knowing that a shinobi like Zabuza Momochi was involved.

Later, on Hiruzen Sarutobi had learned that a member of the Yuki Clan was also there along with Mangetsu Hozuki, another member of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. What surprised him the most was that this group was able to win against the odds. True, there was always a chance that Kakashi would win against Zabuza, but he did not expect inexperienced genin like Kasumi and Sasuke to defeat someone like Haku.

However, Naruto defeating Mangetsu Hozuki is what took the cake for Hiruzen. A genin who had outsmarted Zabuza twice in one battle is fictional enough, but for one to defeat the Second Coming of the Demon in single combat?

Outrageous. The mere possibility of that event happening would be considered a lie that would trump Kakashi's excuses for his tardiness.

Naruto went on to explain that he had gotten lucky in the battle against Mangetsu. He went on to state that if it wasn't for his aptitude in Genjutsu he would've died right there and then. Hiruzen noted that the young Uchiha before him was very much like the predecessors in his family. No genin in recent times had faced odds like him and then downplay it like that.

It seemed that Naruto did not possess the natural arrogance that a large majority of the Uchiha Clan had, even the ones who were from the Branch Side. Hiruzen smiled at the way Naruto was humble about his skills.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't just a kind old man. He had lived through three wars and was taught by Tobirama Senju himself, one of the most intelligent shinobi to ever exist. He knew that the raven haired teen in front of him was far above chunnin level. He had noticed how Naruto had left out some facts in the fight against Mangetsu. Hiruzen however did not cross the lines, he did not suspect Naruto but he sure as hell didn't believe every single word about the young genin's skills. There was also the probability that Danzo might do something about it.

He had been keeping tabs on the cripple lately. Danzo was quite annoyed by how the Third Fire Shadow was keeping an annoying close watch on him ever since the Uchiha Massacre.

Naruto then made a request to the Hokage. He requested if there were any good kenjutsu instructors around. The request had surprised Hiruzen quite a bit. Naruto had never requested anything before. By instructor, Sarutobi knew that Naruto meant 'someone very good with a sword'. Fortunately, he did find someone. More like two people.

One of his ANBU Operatives Yugao Uzuki had gotten a month of break due to a long outstanding service and she had gotten recently engaged to Hayate Gekko. Yugao was bored at home after a mere two days. ANBU had always kept her bust and as much time she was spending with Hayate, she was bored. She went to the Hokage Tower to ask their leader if she could do any non-ANBU missions. The moment she heard that a couple of genin needed to brush up on their kenjutsu she became skeptical. It wasn't arrogance, but she was an ANBU Black Op one of the damned elites of the village.

But then a topic of interest came up as the sly Lord Third, added a bit of spice to the genin. The spice was the truth. Yugao learned that this group of Genin led be her senpai Kakashi Hatake had encountered not only Zabuza Momochi, but Mangetsu Hozuki and a member of the now nearly extinct Yuki Clan.

The fact that one of the genin had beaten Mangetsu seemed like a well fabricated lie. She knew about the Civilian Council and their tendencies to blow things out of proportions. She had assumed that 'the Great Uchiha-sama'as the Civilian Council had dubbed Sasuke was responsible for this. But Hiruzen Sarutobi told her that it was Naruto Uchiha had beaten Mangetsu, though he claimed that he didn't win he merely took the chance and made sure he didn't lose. Yugao was definitely interested in this situation, more so because not only was Naruto the younger brother of Shisui Uchiha, her former ANBU Teammate, but there was another person who was to be taught alongside.

Kasumi Uzumaki. The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. A person she used to guard until said girl became ten. For some reason, the Civilian Council had altogether stopped pestering her for some reason. Ever since the attempted kidnapping of Hinata Hyuga the clan heiress, the random civilians who would often try to gang up and berate / beat her just stopped. The Fox Hunts also stopped. Yugao knew there was something up with this, the Civlian side of the village were fools who didn't know any better and couldn't tell a kunai apart from the scroll that holds it.

Yugao also was interested in teaching Kasumi for some personal reasons as well. She was also there when Naruto Uchiha had killed Mizuku when the sick bastard had attempted to rape Kasumi. She was curious and decided to scope out her students first. What she saw was both heartwarming and astounding to her.

She knew the two lived together, but seeing it was a different experience. If one didn't know any better you could say they were like a married couple. Every day, they would train together, eat and repeat. It was nearly the same routine until Yugao had caught them making out one day in the back of their house. However, much to her surprise the boy always stopped before the intimacy could go up one step.

It seemed that the teenage Uchiha knew how to keep it in his pants and Yugao once bore witness to Kasumi having one of her anger outbreaks and despite being the ANBU she was shivered at whoever would fall victim to her rage. The sight of them being together from such a young age was cute though. It was something that most people even in their adult lives didn't get. After scoping them out for four days, Yugao introduced herself as their kenjutsu teacher which both of them happily agreed to.

To say that Yugao was surprised at Naruto's potential was an understatement. The boy had chakra control that could shame some jounins. Above all, he was always calm and collected. When in a spar his face did not reveal a single opening. The poker face he had was similar to that of Itachi Uchiha. Sometimes Yugao was a bit shocked at the two resemblances between the two Uchiha. She had seen Itachi's younger brother and she was surprised.

Young Sasuke was really nothing like his brother, true he had potential but none near Itachi's both in terms of skill and emotional control. He also had arrogance brewing inside him if that smug look on his face was anything. Naruto on the other hand was so different from Sasuke. He was a mix between Shisui and Itachi in terms of personality. Shisui was goofy at times but he was always good at heart. Itachi though rarely smiled, was always humble about everything he did.

Now came the second person. Kasumi Uzumaki. The person who was ostracized from very beginning of her life had sheer determination that she had not seen in a long time. Not since the Kyuubi's attack. True, she had some sever anger issues that could possibly harm others more than herself, but her pure intentions and child-like innocence is what truly separated her from the crop. Yugao was under the impression that she was the last one to arrive in her batch. But it seemed that her time spent with Naruto had increased her skills by leaps and bounds. The girl herself was at least Chunnin level.

Yugao was impressed that this generation actually had genin of this level considering it was peace time now. She then started teaching them both and saw that Kasumi was more talented with a blade than Naruto. She expected Naruto to be jealous or wary of Kasumi to some extent. But the face the raven haired teen had on his face was that of pure joy and untainted happiness. He was glad that she was better than him.

Both teens were clearly in love with each other and once more Yugao couldn't help but yell 'Kawaii!' inside her mind. She had brought Hayate with her sometimes to teach the both of them at the same time, and he too was quickly impressed by the teen couple.

Now we find Naruto panting a bit. He had improved over the month. He had been practicing the **Kassatsu-Ryu / Life Or Death Style** and has been working on it extensively. However his plans to integrate an elemental affinity to the blade, has been proving to be quite a hassle. Not only does he need to work on taking the chakra control to a higher level, he also needs to take his kenjutsu skills to a near mastery caliber in order to pull it off.

Kasumi on the other hand has been improving much more rapidly than him. Her proficiency with the Ginken was astounding to say the least. Though it was unsurprising as she was an Uzumaki. Yugao had considered Kasumi's usage of **Shinten Itto-ryu/ One Sword Style of Heaven** on par with some jounin in the village. But her control with chakra was terrible compared to Naruto's. She had finished training Kasumi for the day and Naruto was losing.

"Neko-sensei" Naruto said as he took up the stance of the **Kassatsu-Ryu** once more. "Shouldn't you go a bit easy on me?"

"Now why would I do that?" Yugao asked. "You said you wanted to improve. Hence the tough training regiment."

"That is true but," Naruto paused a bit as he took up a crouching stance, Yugao became surprised with the stance "I noticed that your lag time between each slash has decreased. You're trying to beat me with nearly every strike now."

"So you noticed?" Yugao asked as she tried to figure the meaning behind the stance. There were so many openings she could see. "I'm not that surprised. But I have to ask what is with your stance? It seems too sloppy. You could be easily killed."

"Yes. Of that there is no doubt." Naruto said. "However, a stance is only is good as its user. Like you're about to find out." Naruto rushed towards Yugao as he jumped off into the air and was going straight for her. Yugao was going slash him with the blunt edge of her blade. One more strike and he would be out. But then she noticed that Naruto's body took an awkward angle and he took the Hitokiri in his right hand as he now had a tanto in his left.

He threw the tanto at Yugao who was forced to deflect and soon saw the result of Naruto's technique.

His sword was currently pointing right between her chest and her stomach. Yugao smirked a bit at Naruto's actions. It was incredibly risky, but he calculated every single moment within that time. The raven haired Uchiha did not fight fair by any means. He is everything a shinobi should be. Always planning ahead of his enemy and making sure his way is the only way to go. But he still had a long way to go. Yugao wasn't giving it her all and if she did then Naruto would've lost, considering it was a pure swordfight.

"This was supposed to be a swordfight Naruto. Not a shinobi spar." Yugao said as she retracted her own katana, signifying that the training session for today was over.

"True." Naruto said as he sheathed Hitokiri back and spoke once more. "But a tanto is a shorter sword. So I didn't go outside the rules of engagement."

"You're a sly one." Yugao said and Naruto did his best to hold back a smirk at her comment.

"Umm. Neko-san?" Naruto asked with a neutral face once more. "I don't mean to pry but…. Did you know my brother? I mean you seem to be around his age and I remember seeing you a lot of times beforehand when I was at the Academy."

"Yes. We used to be on the same team until he became a jounin later on. It was after Satsuki-san passed away. He said he needed to make time for his younger brother." Yugao said and saw the small smile on Naruto's face. She then pondered on what he said. "You managed to see me when you were at the Academy?" Yugao asked. She did not know that. One of the few things that Hiruzen told Yugao about Naruto was that he was very good at hiding his skills and true power.

She learned that not only was he strong but he had a fully matured Sharingan, which she had yet to see, that he had probably mastered to a great deal.

"Well. At first I only sensed. You probably didn't hide your presence seeing as you were in the village at the time. And all honesty no one expects an Academy student to have a sensor ability." Naruto paused before he spoke once more. "Besides, I had these for a long time." Naruto said as his Sharingan came to life. It had been quite some time since Yugao had seen the famed Copy Wheel Eye. First it was her senpai Kakashi Hatake, then Shisui and lastly Itachi Uchiha. She had seen just how powerful and the wide range of possibilities the famed dojutsu provided.

"Looks like the rumors about you having a fully matured Sharingan were true." Yugao said. "Why don't you use it that often?"

"I only use it when I need to. That doesn't necessarily mean I don't practice with it." Naruto said. He looked at the sky and saw that it was going to be noon soon. "I think we're done for the day ne Neko-sensei?"

"Yes. It looks that way. I don't think that we'll get regular sparring sessions anymore. My vacation ends today." Yugao said.

"I see. That's unfortunate." Naruto said. Then he remembered about today's plans and was hesitant to ask something to Yugao. 'Come on Naruto just ask her! She's a woman she'll be able to give you tips.'

"Is something wrong?" Yugao asked seeing the confused look on his face.

"It's nothing that big." Naruto said as he looked over his shoulders. Kasumi was still in the house. He didn't want to let her know. "Can I ask you for some advice?"

"On what? More kenjutsu or some other skill?" Yugao asked. She then saw a funny look on the usual, stoic Uchiha's face. One of anxiety and slight embarrassment. Naruto then coughed into his hands. He wasn't sure how to put this.

"You see sensei…. I *cough* wantotakeKasumionadategivemesomeadvice" Naruto blurted out as quickly as he could.

"Nani?" Yugao said as she couldn't understand anything after 'I'. "Could you repeat that? And slowly this time."

"I said..*mumbles incoherently*" Naruto still couldn't say it.

"Just get on with it." Yugao said. As amusing as this was, she really wanted to spend the rest of the day with Hayate.

"I want to take Kasumi out on a date." Naruto said as he didn't make eye contact with her. "Could you give me some advice?" He then some snickers coming from Yugao. He merely looked at her with a deadpan expression. "It's not that funny sensei. If I do something wrong I'll probably get sent to the moon by her."

"Naruto Uchiha. Took on one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist, has a fully matured Sharingan and is very proficient with Katon…. Is afraid of Kasumi Uzumaki? A genin?" Yugao asked with a smirk underneath her mask. Naruto could just feel that smirk.

"I have every right to be afraid of her." Naruto said trying to convince Yugao, that a lethal shinobi like him was perfectly sane to be afraid of a fourteen year old girl. "Besides, you haven't seen her Orange Menace side."

"Orange Menace?" Yugao said. She then remembered the pranks that Kasumi used to pull off. Thank God it stopped. To this day no one knows how exactly she painted the Hokage Mountain…. In broad daylight…. With seven different buckets of paint….. and didn't get caught by ANBU. "you mean the pranks she pulled off?"

"That's only half of it." Naruto said as he deactivated his Sharingan. "Her anger….. knows no bounds." A cloud of depression settled over his head. Yugao sweat dropped. Shisui could also do this for some reason. Maybe it was a genetic thing. Maybe not.

"Alright. I'll give you some advice." Yugao said. "But you better not take advantage of her."

"I could never do that." Naruto said with a light smile. "She's…. far too important to me." Yugao couldn't help but smile at his words. Young love. The purest form there is.

"Okay. Firstly of all," Yugao began and then the shitty author of this fic decided to leave that part out.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was in a crossroad of decisions now. His head was still wrapped around the events surrounding the Wave Mission. He had finally awakened his Sharingan. One tomoe in one eye and two tomoe in the other. His skills had considerably improved over the month. He himself could say that proudly. His father had often told him that the Fireball Jutsu was simply the initiation that every Uchiha shinobi should have. It was a rite of passage. Activating the Sharingan was something else entirely.

In recent times before the Massacre, both the Main House and the Branch Side had a sudden decrease in Sharingan users. For some reason there were lesser people with Sharingan. Say if there were 100 Uchiha clansmen, only around 40 of them would have Sharingan. His father had hypothesized a reason for this. Simply put, the Uchiha Clan did not hold the fire and fury that it previously held. He believed that through strength and power the power could be brought back.

The Uchiha Clan had slacked off was the unofficial term. Sasuke remembers seeing the Elders of the Uchiha Clan whom Genjuro Uchiha, as Itachi and his mother told him, had often gotten into arguments with. Those Elders were so arrogant that even Sasuke had loathed them. He despised them. They were the ones who preached that the Uchiha Clan was the strongest. This belief had been instilled into nearly every Uchiha by birth. Main House or Branch Side.

Except a select few. Namely Genjuro's family. Genjuro's father Kagami Uchiha himself was considered to be the most powerful Uchiha to emerge since Era of the Warring States. Even Fugaku said that Kagami held a power that most Uchiha could only dream of. Then came Genjuro's wife Satsuki whose proficiency with genjutsu was considered to be borderline impossible. Then came their children.

Now that Sasuke thought about it, it was no surprise that Naruto was stronger than him. He was descended from Kagami Uchiha. He was the son of Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha. But that didn't change the fact that he was from the Branch Side. This is what Sasuke hated about Naruto. The mere fact that someone from the Branch Side had outshined him. And it had to be the person with whom his own mother, Mikoto, and Itachi would often visit and spend time with.

And even now, Naruto was ahead of him. Not just skill wise. But also, because despite the shitty life he lived, the losses he suffered from a young age and the beratings he was handed on a rusty platter he still had someone to lean on. Kasumi Uzumaki. The only girl 'worthy' in Sasuke's eyes to be a possible matriarch of the restored Uchiha Clan.

Sasuke knew he would sooner or later have to confront Naruto about the whole situation with Kasumi but first came his primary goal.

Killing Itachi Uchiha.

He needed to achieve that no matter what. He'd have to get stronger.

By any means necessary. He couldn't help but remember the words Itachi had said to him, as he stood over the lifeless and bloodied bodies of their parents. He had trapped him in a genjutsu and said his departing words before going rogue.

 _"If you want to kill me, despise me, hate me, and live in an unsightly way. ... cling to life, and then some day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me."_

Itachi's eyes had changed their shape before him. The Sharingan had morphed. The Mangekyou Sharingan. His father had told him about it once. He said that there was a great price to obtaining these eyes. Itachi had revealed it to him. To activate the Mangekyou Sharingan….. you must kill your best friend. Itachi revealed that he had killed his best friend Shisui Uchiha to obtain it.

This had left Sasuke in quite a predicament. He had no…. friends. Or anyone else he was close with. He had shut himself off completely from everyone else. He had solely focused his entire time into training honing his skills and hatred. How could he gain the Mangekyou Sharingan?

Did he like Kasumi? In the same manner that Naruto did?

No. He did not. She was simply breeding material to him. Nothing more. Was there anyone close to him?

Anyone?

In the entire village.

Was there anyone he talked to more times than anyone else? Someone he knew? Someone he was relatively close to?

The answer clicked in his mind.

There was one person.

One person he did talk to more than anyone else.

Naruto Uchiha.

Sasuke was now even more confused. Did he stand a chance against Naruto? He had defeated one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist by himself. No matter how many times Naruto tries to sugarcoat the incident or say that he got lucky, the facts spoke for themselves. A shinobi of Mangetsu's level wanted to fight Naruto. A shinobi like that wanted to fight a genin like Naruto. Right now Sasuke knew he was nowhere ready to take him on. In truth, a part of Sasuke didn't even want to follow Itachi's words about obtaining the Mangekyou Sharingan. He remembered Shisui Uchiha. He was kind and strong, just like his Naruto and the rest of his family.

Could Sasuke bring himself to be a kinslayer? Just like Itachi? Could he spill the blood of an Uchiha just for revenge? He did not know.

"Nothing training can't solve." Sasuke said to himself as he retreated to the Training Ground.

* * *

Naruto's House.

Kasumi Uzumaki was trying to cook ramen. Yes, she was trying to cook her favorite dish. She didn't care what anyone thought about her favorite food. Or her favorite color. In her mind, people did not understand the greatness and pride that the color orange held. If ramen was the Food of the Gods, then orange was no doubt the Color of the Gods. She happily hummed a tune as she brushed up her cooking skills.

Being an orphan was no doubt lonely and sad, but just like everything else there came some benefits with it. She had learned to look after herself from a very young age. Since she turned four, she was ousted from Konoha Orphanage and remembers sleeping outside on the streets for one entire night. It wasn't until that Weasel ANBU who saw her and questioned her along with why she was out here that the Third Hokage got to know about it. She was later given an apartment, the very same apartment that she had lived her entire life until Naruto had come into her life.

She sighed happily as she remembered the day she moved into the house. She could never forget how she woke up and realized she wasn't living alone anymore. Someone ate with her, talked with her, slept under the same roof as her.

Acknowledgement.

Something she had wanted throughout her life. Given to her by one person. A person she had nearly lost because of her pride. She had quickly fed her pride to the dogs after she realized her mistake. Naruto Uchiha. The boy she fell in love with. Yes she realized that not too much after she moved in with him. At first she thought it was nothing more than a crush. Those thoughts were quickly being washed away as time had passed on. She felt something strong for Naruto and eventually after a lot of talks with her Ayame-nee-chan she realized that she liked Naruto.

As days went by, the Team exam had arrived and watching Naruto trying to kill himself so that she could move on with her career had given her a heart attack. Of course, this also awakened her Kekkei Genkai as she stopped his arms with her **Kongo Fusa/ Adamantine Chains**. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Both the Uchiha and the Uzumaki had confessed their feelings towards one another and finally she had kissed the boy. Even now that moment under the pale moonlight had sent tingles throughout her body.

Recently when Haku had asked her what made her strong, the raven haired teen's smile had come into her mind. She could not see her life without him now. He was that important to her. Even being Hokage didn't matter to her. As long as Naruto Uchiha was there by her side. The ramen had finished cooking and she took the frying pan out of the stove and took the contents in the pan and laid out on a large dish. She grinned finishing the ramen.

"EEP!"

Kasumi made the noise as she felt two arms wrap around her waist, as her back was pulled into someone's chest. She knew this person all too well as a light pink blush spread across her cheeks. Naruto held Kasumi close to him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He lightly kissed her neck and she moaned a little. The soft moan that she let out was like music to his ears. Ever since the Wave Mission, hormones had been acting up again. She had chewed him out quite a bit for taking part in such a risky battle. It was only thanks to the surgeons of Konoha Hospital that the diagonal scar on the front side of his upper body had all but disappeared.

She had seen him without a shirt for quite sometime during that phase and it did not help at all. She often used to drool at the sight of his body. It was the first time she had noticed all the little details of it. It was lean but every muscle was toned very well, built for speed and successive strikes. I mean the fourteen year old had six perfectly developed packs for Kami's sake. Don't even get her started on his chest and shoulders.

Of course, Naruto himself had fallen victim to Kasumi's natural beauty. Her smooth, creamy skin had left shivers down his spine whenever he touched her. Her silky hair which reminded him of the sweet fragrance of strawberries always made him smile. The tresses of blonde blessed by the sun had shades of a dark red that made her look like a beauty out of an exotic fantasy. Her low C Cup breasts much to Naruto's light perverse joy, had also grown a bit over the months.

How did he know? He does sleep with her every night and often times he could feel a change in the bed. He was happy that her chest was developing nicely. Then her hips, well wide for her age. All in all, she would have a perfect hourglass figure once she hits her full mature growth spurt.

(AN: That lucky bastard!)

"Naru" she breathed out as she turned around and stared off into his blue eyes. She loved seeing them so much. She couldn't at times believe the amount of self restraint that Naruto had. Even she at times had difficulty controlling herself. How he did it is something she still hasn't figured out yet. "What's up with you today?" Naruto pouted a bit and she giggled seeing that expression on his face.

"Can't I show my girlfriend a bit of extra love if I want to?" He said as she noticed a change in her hairstyle. Instead of the usual twin pigtails, she had tied it into a high ponytail. There was a hairclip on the left side of the bang near her forehead. He didn't think it was possible but the love of his life looked even more beautiful than he thought. He lightly traced her cheek and she purred because of the whisker marks. "You look even more beautiful this way Sumi." On cue the blush that had been caressing her cheeks changed from pink to a luscious red.

"B-Baka!" She said as she dug her head into his chest to hide her face. Why did he have to say things like those? It made the blood in her body rush to her cheeks. Her heart beats increased. Tingles reverberated throughout her body. "You're only saying that to make me smile." She said as he looked up and saw him smiling gently. He brought his face down a little and captured her lips with his own. To her Naruto's lips were soft, she felt her own lips making intimate contact with his. Then she started licking his lower lip as he started to lick her upper.

Soon enough, their mouths opened as their tongues massaged each other. Naruto's arms pulled her closer as their chests became linked once more, and Kasumi's arms wrapped around his neck. The insides of her mouth were being ravished by the person she loved more than anyone else in the world. She felt his firm yet soft hands on her waist. He was slowly moving them up and down along her back as shivers ran throughout her body.

Finally, Naruto stopped. She was both happy and a bit disappointed that he stopped. Happy because she knew that it was only a matter of time before that wall of self-restraint came crashing down and she would finally give one of her most precious gifts to the man she loved. She was sad because, she was feeling her entire body reacting to the make out session they were having. She could feel her nipples becoming firm, her knees were becoming weak as an occasional warmth had began to develop between her legs.

That warmness was a sheer feeling of ecstasy that nothing in the world could ever match.

And the only person who could make her feel like this was standing right before her.

A thin trail of saliva was disappearing between their lips. Her eyes were glazed and Naruto was trying his best not to just damn everything and take her right there and then.

"Sumi." He said as she pressed his forehead against hers. It was so peaceful to him. He could take on the entire world if she was beside him. "I love you." He said as Kasumi kissed him this time. A simple kiss this time. A simple kiss that spoke volumes for both of them.

"I love you too, Naru." Kasumi said as she rested her head against his chest once more. His arms were wrapped around her. It was perfectly safe there. Then she felt that Naruto was making a sniffing noise. She looked up to see him looking around before his eyes fell on the rather large dish containing the chicken ramen she had cooked. It's fresh aroma of starch, spices and the broth itself was intoxicating the air.

Naruto did have the occasional ramen, but one thing he learned is that Teuchi and Ayame had shared their secret recipes with Kasumi. By Kami she was utilizing that perfectly. Though Kasumi still went there at least thrice a week. Ayame had apparently been 'shipping for NaruKasu /KasuNaru' from the beginning, whatever the hell that meant.

"You cooked ramen huh?" Naruto asked as Kasumi beamed up with her million watt smile. It was infectious. It made Naruto feel lighter about the world he lived in. A world where people are killed every day, each person looks to gain an edge over the other and where one's death affects so many more. All those worries about whether he'll live tomorrow wash away as if they were fickle thoughts when he sees that smile.

"Yup" Kasumi said in a cheerful voice. "Want to have some now?"

"Sure" Naruto said as he was going with her to serve themselves some ramen goodness. "Oi Sumi." Kasumi looked at Naruto as he spoke up. "We're not going to have dinner at home today."

"Why not-ttebayo?" Kasumi said with a whine. "Today was your turn to cook." She really looked forward to his cooking. Needless to say, Naruto had gotten down the way Satsuki used to cook. Yes, the man who narrowly beat Mangetsu Hozuki in a death match was a good cook. Deal with it.

"Well. Let's just say that I have some plans." Naruto said as both teens had gotten their fair share of ramen in their bowls. "Because we are going on a date."

"D-date?!" Kasumi said with a stutter. This was surprising to her. She had never actually gone out with the man she lived with on a date. Active shinobi barely have any time for themselves, whether they be genin or Kage. Free time was something that many people had treasured in this world. Kasumi was curious though. What did people do on dates? Nothing that Ayame-nee-chan can't answer.

"Hai." Naruto said as both of them had sat down at the table. "I realized that I didn't take you out on a single date ever since we began our relationship. So I guess this is to make up for it all." He said with a sheepish expression.

"You really don't need to Naru." Kasumi said. "I mean. Being with you is all I really need." Naruto merely smiled at the words she said. Simple words yet they touched his heart to the very core.

"I know. I feel the same way Sumi. I really…. Don't see my life without you in it." Naruto said as both were sitting side by side. "But, one day we're going to look back on this day. And I sort of want it to be special."

"But will the place you want to take me to allow me to go there?" Kasumi said with some worry in her voice. She remembers how many grocery stores, clothing outlets and many other places didn't let her in. Those that did sold the item at outrageous prices. Naruto frowned a bit. He remembered Kasumi telling him this. He knew that something like this would come up and he already made plans for it.

"Don't worry." Naruto said with a reassuring smile."The place where we're going is a place where no one will bother you. I promise you that."

"Okay." Kasumi replied. She wasn't showing it but her heart was beating really fast right now. Naruto had thought that far ahead before even speaking to her about it. "When will we go out?"

"Hmmm. I was thinking around dusk." Naruto said.

"Okay" Kasumi said. First things first, she needed to go and talk to Ayame about this. Kasumi was not about to screw this up under any circumstances. Naruto himself was calming himself down from the fact that Kasumi didn't make any fuss about it. Now all that's left was to make sure that everything goes to plan.

* * *

Around Dusk Give or take a few minutes, Outside Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound.

Naruto had gotten everything prepared. Right now he had changed his clothes. He himself wasn't much of fashionable person. If it was up to him, he'd be wearing his grandfather's old armor. Better to be prepared than be caught with a kunai at your neck. Naruto's hair had grown more over the month. He decided to keep it a bit larger this time. He'll try to make sure that he doesn't look like Madara.

His hair was brushed back all the way and reached below the nape of his neck. The natural spikiness of the hair was still there but Naruto had combed it as much as he could so the front part of his hair was shifted to the right. He was wearing a dark grey half sleeved shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back and light blue pants. He wasn't wearing toeless shinobi sandals, but he wore black shoes. He had never gotten the chance to wear it often. He wasn't infusing chakra right now so the voice that came up behind him surprised him a bit.

"Naruto." Sasuke said as he came near Naruto who turned around to see Sasuke and was a bit surprised. He never really talked to Sasuke unless they were assembled as a team. Today was an off day, given that Team Seven pulled off more missions than any other team.

"Sasuke." Naruto said as he nodded. He had stopped using the 'san' suffix ever since the Gunbai incident in Wave. It seemed that it brought down Sasuke a few pegs down. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Hn." Sasuke gave the universal Uchiha grunt. "I needed to speak with you about something."

"Okay. What is it?" Naruto said. He was curious. Something wasn't right here. Sasuke was many things but social was not one of them.

"I want to fight you" Sasuke said. Naruto noted there was no arrogance in his voice this time.

"Might I ask why?" Naruto asked.

"For my training. I want to see how far I am coming along." Sasuke said.

"I see. I will spar with you tomorrow." Naruto said. "Don't worry I look forward to our spar as well. One can always learn something from a fight every now and then."

"Fine then. I'll see you tomorrow." Sasuke turned around to leave but stopped when he saw that Naruto's hair was combed. There was a smell of perfume coming from him as well. "Are you… wearing perfume?"

"Is it really that much?" Naruto said with a neutral expression. He was cursing himself for putting on that much.

"Not really. It's just weird seeing you reeking of perfume." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Well I do have a date so sue me for trying." Naruto said with a small smile. This had got Sasuke narrowing his brows. Naruto was going on a date with Kasumi.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in annoyance. "I'll see you tomorrow." Sasuke said as he walked away. He wasn't angry he was outright annoyed at the couple out of both jealousy and the mushiness that the two had. It almost made him want to puke.

"Bizarre." Naruto said as some letters forming the word 'strange' floated around his body. They went away a bit later. Then Naruto heard the door of his house opening. He turned around to see it and for a moment his breath hitched.

There stood Kasumi Uzumaki. Her hair was still in the high ponytail style she had kept today. It seemed that she had worked on her hair a bit more as the last rays of the sun seemed to hit her blonde hair as the red streaks prominently shone through. She had no makeup on her face. She didn't need it. Her heart shaped face was glowing for some reason and the slight pink blush on her face only accentuated her features greatly. She was wearing a dark red full sleeved top, that had a black floral pattern top and pink frilled skirt that came to her knees.

To finish it off, she was wearing some dark beige sandals. She was nervous as hell. She had never gone on a date before. She sure as hell didn't how those even worked. All she knew was to make sure to not behave like her hyperactive self for today, Ayame had told her that repeatedly. Also the clothing she was wearing was suggested by Ayame, who didn't want Kasumi going with Naruto wearing something orange.

She had huffed when she heard that. Now she was standing at the doorway with Naruto staring at her. A million questions ran through her mind. The prime one being.

'Does he not like it?'

Slowly Naruto came up forward and he stood in front of her. He looked at her with his azure eyes with a soft gaze.

"Beautiful." He whispered as he looked at Kasumi. She was blushing at the way he said it.

"Arigato Naru." Kasumi said and saw that Naruto was holding out his arm. Kasumi understood and locked hers around it. She leaned on his right arm as both then slowly walked out of the Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Where are we going?" Kasumi asked.

"You'll see." Naruto said.

* * *

Soon enough, the teenage couple were walking through the main town and nearly everyone's eyes were fixated upon the two. Some of the women were outright yelling 'Kawaii' at the sight and some of the men were actually showing a thumbs up to Naruto. Then there were the people who didn't like Kasumi, of course they didn't dare say anything in front of Naruto. He also noticed some teenage girls muttering sad nothings and some other boys he recognized from the Academy.

All of them looked so pissed now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Team Eight along with their sensei Kurenai Yuhi. Normally, he'd go and greet them but today it was their day so no interruptions. Especially with Kiba there who'd no doubt blow a gasket at them.

"Kasumi-chan" Kiba whined at seeing the couple walk hand in hand. Even from a distance he could tell how lovingly they were gazing at each other. Slowly he felt all his chances going away.

"U-um. You really s-shouldn't be that s-sad Kiba-san." Hinata said as she saw her friend Kasumi walk with Naruto. They looked adorable in her eyes. She was happy that Naruto had finally reconnected with Kasumi. "W-We all know that Kasumi-chan l-l-liked Naruto-san a lot." Hinata's stuttering had decreased a lot thanks to Kurenai. What did she do? Well, let's just say that Hinata had frequent talks with a certain purple haired, dango loving kunoichi.

"I agree Kiba-san" Shino spoke up for the first time in this entire fanfic. "You never really had a chance to begin with."

"Stop it Shino." Kiba said with a whine as anime tears fell from his face. "I shouldn't give up right Kurenai-sensei?"

"I don't know Kiba." The red eyed beautiful sensei of Team Eight said. "When people truly fall in love, nothing really gets in the way."

"What about you s-s-sensei?" Hinata asked a bit timidly.

"Yeah!" Kiba said. "That Asuma guy keeps asking you out but you keep refusing him."

"I have my reasons for that Kiba." Kurenai said. "Maybe one day I'll tell you guys." Kurenai said as she released a sigh. There was a perfectly good reason as to why she was referred to as the Ice Queen of Konoha. She had not accepted a single date request from any man in Konoha. Only two people other than Kurenai knew why. One was Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other was Anko Mitarashi.

Team Eight walked away, none of them ever noticed the crow that was sitting in a building near them observing them. The crow then flew away.

* * *

 **Insert Music**

 **Final Fantasy XIII OST – The Promise**

* * *

In the Forest behind Hokage Mountain, Konohagakure no Sato.

Kasumi Uzumaki had often painted the Hokage Mountain. But never had she gone beyond to the Forest behind it. She regretted it. It was beautiful. The trees here surrounding the entire terrain were created by the Shodaime Hokage Hashirama Senju himself. There was a near life like quality to the trees. A person could actually feel the trees housing the village from here. The sun had peacefully settled into the darkness and a cool breeze was now touching the bodies of the two genin. Naruto knew this would happen and had sealed his full sleeved blue shirt sealed in his arm. He unsealed it and draped it around Kasumi.

"Arigato Naru." Kasumi said.

"You never need to thank me Sumi." Naruto said. They were walking into a deeper section of the forest. Soon enough they had reached a clearing of the forest and Kasumi stared with wide eyes at the sight before her. There was a lake in the middle of the clearing. The crystal blue color of the lake was entrancing. It was just as mesmerizing as the irides of Naruto's eyes. Kasumi's eyes were darting around the place and saw that there was a rather large blanket spread over the clearing with a picnic basket in the middle. The initial chilly winds had stopped blowing and Naruto, told to be the perfect gentleman by Yugao, had taken his shirt off of her and sealed it back.

They headed towards the area the blanket was laid out over. It was near a great tree that was providing a great shelter at the spot beneath it. Naruto had prepared clones before hand and stationed them here. He had gotten food from the restaurants knowing full well that an awkward situation may arise there. Both of them walked over there and sat down on the blanket after they took off their shoes. The blanket had extended all the way to the base of the great tree. She saw that plates had been laid out already along with forks and spoons. Perfectly cooked steak, with a side of salad and some onion rings with puree were on the plate.

A bottle of wine was there as well. Along with two glasses.

Kasumi was eating as both of them made small talks with each other. She realized how good the food tasted. The wine itself had a rich taste. Both of them had finished their food and Kasumi was beaming at how the day was going. She was honestly glad that Naruto did not pick out to go to restaurant. Here they were surrounded by nature at its best as they had a delicious meal. Both began to talk some more as they started to laugh thinking about Kiba's dismay at their sight when Naruto revealed they were there. Then Naruto brought out an entire cake out of the basket. A strawberry cheesecake. If there was anything other than ramen she loved in terms of food, it was this.

She happily clapped like an innocent child at the sight of her favorite dessert. Naruto sliced it with a knife and gave her quite a generous piece as he himself had one. And then dessert itself had finished. Soon they were having some of the wine as well. Naruto knew that there was no way Kasumi would get drunk, given the ridiculous chakra reserves she has. Naruto himself would not get drunk as he laced every sip with his own chakra to avoid getting dazed and confused.

The winds had started to blow up once more and Kasumi felt the chills running through her bones. The Hokage Mountain was quite large and the winds up here were much colder than usual. Naruto then brought out another blanket from the basket. He then called Kasumi.

"Sumi" He said as he stood up and extended his hand which Kasumi took. They went near the base of the tree and sat against it. Naruto spread the blanket over their bodies as they crouched up against each other. Kasumi's head was once again in the familiar chest of Naruto. This was her pillow. The one place where she could carelessly fall asleep anytime. The soft and constant beats of his heart were so soothing to her. The moon was shining brightly today. It seemed to be closer to the planet today.

The stars in the sky were blazing in the sky. They were witnessing the two of them. She looked up to see Naruto's face and saw his eyes. They held nothing but love and care for her. She couldn't help but tear up a bit. She felt his familiar hands softly cupping her cheeks as she looked at him. She knew it right in her heart. This was it. The moment that defined her life.

"Don't you ever cry Sumi." Naruto said. "I don't want to see tears on your face. I can't see them escaping your eyes." Naruto said as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Naru-kun" Kasumi said. Naruto couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat at the way she said it. It felt so right. "You'll always be here right?"

"I promise." Naruto said as sapphire orbs stared into violet orbs. Their faces were centimeters away from each other. Their breaths were felt by each other. Both of them closed their eyes and leaned towards each other. Their lips met in a deep kiss. They decided to deepen it as he started to lick her bottom lip and she did the same licking his upper lip. Mouths had opened and their tongues once more wrestled with each other with a passion. He held her tightly against his chest as she melted into his embrace. They broke off as their need to breath finally trumped their make out session.

Then moments later they had engaged each other once more as they explored each other's mouths with their tongues. Fireflies began to emerge into the clearing as the slowly made a spiral design and flew upwards from the lake.

With glazed violet eyes she looked at the person she loved. Azure eyes also stared into their familiar sight.

"I love you Naru-kun."

"I love you Sumi-chan."

* * *

Naruto & Kasumi's House, Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto and Kasumi had returned to their house after a lot of time. Yes…. Their house. Kasumi had changed into her pink cute pajamas as Naruto wore a shirt and some shorts. They retreated into the bed. Naruto was holding the love of his life against the crook of neck. Both of them had engaged into yet another war of tongues, as they ravished each other's mouths. A rosy tint had made itself stretched across Kasumi's cheeks. She smiled once more as she kissed him one more time. Just a simple contact of their lips that made them feel their love for each other.

Naruto was right. She was going to look back on this day. She would never forget it. She looked at Naruto. Naruto himself was the happiest. He felt like he was on top of the world. Both teens had their frames tightly fitted against each other as they hid themselves under the sheets of the bed.

"Goodnight Naru-kun."

"Goodnight Sumi-chan."

A final kiss for the night occurred as their lips found each other for some time. Then they drifted off together into the realms of dreams as Kasumi's arms wrapped around his waist, and Naruto's arms were around her back and neck. Most people go on with their lives hoping to find something like this. These two had found love in a world that showed no mercy.

* * *

 **Phew!**

 **Okay people that is it for today. I said it before and I'll say it again. I know I messed up with the romance scenes once more. I am sorry if I did it. Seriously, I am still new here so please go easy with the flames on this one. As you saw I did not make Kurenai Asuma's love interest here. For all you AsumaXKurenai fans I am sorry, I really see Kurenai with Itachi better. Remember how I said in a previous chapter how Itachi had a girlfriend, but Naruto did not know who it was. There you go. I hope you guys can see that I put Sasuke in a crossroad of bullshit. Don't worry hoping to resolve that according to my plans. So ….. I guess that is it. If you think the story is good hit that follow and favorite button. Make sure you guy leave reviews to let me know what you think. Your reviews are my fuel. Well then ja**

 **Naruto Uchiha & Kasumi Uzumaki: Wait!**

 **RIfatAlam.94: What is it guys?**

 **Naruto: Well you see it's 15th December**

 **RIfatAlam.94: Yeah what about it?**

 **Kasumi: Naru-kun! Remember the plan**

 **Naruto: Yeah I do.**

 **RIfatAlam.94: What are you guys on about?**

 **Naruto and Kasumi: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!**

 **RIfatAlam.94: … Where's my cake?**

 **NaruKasu: Hehehehehe….. It's in the other room.**

 **RIfatAlam.94: Okay let me go check (author goes to the other room)**

 **Kasumi: Run!**

 **Naruto: Right behind you!**

 **(Both run away!)**

 **RIfatAlam.94: The cake was a lie. There was no c- Hey! Get back here. Excuse me. Make sure leave your opinions and comments in the reviews. I have to go and make them pay for not getting me any cake on my birthday. Stay safe guys. Until then take care. Ja ne! (Runs after Naruto and Kasumi while yelling "Get back here! I just wanna punch you!")**


	16. A Prologue to the Chunnin Exams

**Hey guys!**

 **First of all thank you for the wishes all of you sent me last time. It meant a lot you guys. Now on to the issue at hand. A lot of you guys were complaining about how 12 year olds were so horny. For those who said that, well clearly haven't read the chapters properly. I increased the age to fourteen, it seems more in tone with the story. Secondly, a lot of you guys have been asking for a LIME scene. Here's the thing... I am really hesitant about writing a lime scene as of this moment. But rest assured there may be a lime scene in the next few chapters. I know some of you are glad to hear that. Again the keyword being may, not will. Keep it in your pants... for now.**

 **Also... received a lot of flames for discontinuing 'Madara's True Legacy'. Again I'm sorry but that story was not working out at all. I tried but it paled in comparison to the original 'Incarnate' fanfic. I had shamed it and I decided to stop. So... sorry readers. Not all our wishes come true.**

 **Now without further ado, let's get on with the disclaimer.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, STUDIO PIERROT, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE. AND PRAY THAT ONE DAY I WILL TAKE THE RIGHTS FROM KISHIMOTO SOON ENOUGH.**

* * *

Naruto & Kasumi's House, Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

The sun had finally had broken into the house, the general warmth of the solar star had made its presence known throughout the room. Two people were lying in the king sized bed that took it's rightful place in the center of the room. Their bodies were covered by the plain white sheets that gave them shelter from the cold of the night which had made them huddle together. The two teens were connected not only with their bodies but their hearts as well. Naruto Uchiha was sleeping peacefully without a care in the world. He was holding the love of his life closely against his chest, right where she belongs. Her back was facing him as she too slept in the beautiful bliss unconsciousness. Slowly, out of instinct she turned around. Now she found the crook of his neck and her arms wrapped themselves around his waist. Naruto too had a smile on his face as he felt the shift in the bed and brought her closer to his frame.

His sleep was gone. He opened his eyes to the sight he will always cherish forever. Beautiful tresses of sun kissed, blonde hair with royal crimson shades present in them were spread out all over his upper arms. His arms themselves were on her back and the back of her neck. He looked at her and saw the most peaceful and content smile on her face. Only Naruto knew how much that smile meant to him. Last night was something he wouldn't forget in a long time. It was his first date. He felt much lighter as he looked down at her heart shaped face. Then he noticed her naturally pink lips that he loved. Slowly, he lowered his head and gently pecked her lips with his own. He did not expect Kasumi to kiss him back.

Kasumi Uzumaki had opened her eyes and saw Naruto look at her with a smile. She beamed up looking at his face. The deep azure color of the iris in his eyes, were as piercing as ever. She put her hands against his chest and slowly rubbed it. He smiled seeing her little action of affection.

"Ohayo Naru" Kasumi said as she slowly kissed the lips of her boyfriend in a deep entranced kiss. As they separated, Naruto was still smiling and traced her cheeks with his fingers as she purred. He loved it when she did that.

"Ohayo Sumi." Naruto said as he pulled her closer. Naruto said as the smile on his face refused to leave his frame. Such was the heartfelt moment whenever they were near. He thanked Kami for giving him such a person in his life, especially after he had lost his last immediate family. "Do you want to get up now?"

"Mou" she pouted cutely. "Do you want to get rid of me Naru?" She asked with her eyes becoming widened. This was her puppy eyes. No one could ever refuse that.

"I never want to be away from you Sumi." Naruto said as he captured her lips once more in a heated kiss. Soon enough, Kasumi's mouth opened and gave Naruto to enter her mouth. Tongues wrestled in dominance, heat spread throughout their bodies and heartbeats increased to the point one could hear them if they were silent enough. As they exchanged their loves as the tongues caressed each other Naruto had unknowingly put his hand on her chest. His hand fell on the right mound of Kasumi's developing C-Cup breast. Out of sheer instinct he squeezed it a bit and a loud moan came from Kasumi. Her voice only served to rile him up more. A sensation he had never felt before. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to continue what he was doing. To touch her more, to hear her moan and to taste her…

However, as soon as they had come they had also left. Naruto felt a jolt of shock in his body. It felt like someone had hit his body with a Raiton jutsu. He stopped and saw that Kasumi was blushing heavily while her breathing had become heavy. Her chest was heaving up and down a bit. And slowly it decreased.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said as he got up from his lying position and sat up. He went to the edge of the bed's side from his view. He sighed. He knew this would happen sooner or later, but not this soon. The plan he had devised had worked. What Naruto did was place a genjutsu on himself. Anytime his body would cross the natural limit of his restraint, the genjutsu would activate and precise, short jolts of electricity would coarse throughout his entire body. Thus he made sure that he wouldn't be able to continue his carnal glory.

This may seem extreme to some people, but he knew how precious and fragile Kasumi was. To him, seeing tears on her eyes would be compared to large waterfalls raining down from the sky that would shatter everything in contact. He would not have his selfish and carnal desires to take advantage of her. Only when she wanted. She was the world to him and he'd be damned if he chose himself over her. The genjutsu had worked and he would have to place another one on himself again.

"Naru." Kasumi whimpered out as she saw him whisk away from her. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy him touching her body intimately. More than one occasion she had thought of such perverse thoughts. Yet, at the same time she was a bit afraid. Not just because of how it might be painful for her… but there was also the incident which led to her coming here and living in his house. Mizuki had previously tried to rape her. She knew how and what exactly happened in the sack, how a girl changes after her first time. But her near first time was a near attempted rape.

She still remembers the filthy hands of that traitor chunnin. The chunnin whose blood was on her hands, her fingers were once lined with the fluid that circulated from his heart. Even in death, that worthless pile of human garbage messed with her life. She sighed a bit and felt that heat between her legs decrease a bit. Whenever, Naruto touched her all her senses nearly went crazy. But today was different. She had never felt such an arousal before. And then it ended just as quickly as it had come. She scooted over to him and put her arms around his neck hugging him tightly from behind. "It's okay Naru."

"I really am." Naruto said as he held her hands that were currently over his chest. He had tried to avoid this but his raging teenage hormones were getting more out of hand lately. Genjutsu was the only option he had left. "You want to get some breakfast Sumi?"

"Sure." She said as she loosened her grip a bit. She decided to make the mood a bit lighter. "Will we have ramen?" Naruto chuckled lightly. He knew she did that on purpose. It was so that he wouldn't feel down anymore. Just the mere action of what she had done had made him feel a bit better.

"Sumi I love you." He said as she smiled widely. Small little words that made her heart jump every time he said them. "But I will never have ramen for breakfast." He said with a deadpan expression and Kasumi immediately face faulted. She was tricked again. This was one of the many times he had done this to her. One minute he was kind, considering and generally warm. The next minute, he would suddenly change into slave driver. Though, Kasumi was only thinking about his slave driving methods of training. Seriously who leaves a fresh out of the academy genin in the Forest of Death?

* * *

Somewhere in Training Ground 44 otherwise known as the Forest of Death, Konohagakure no Sato.

A purple haired woman was enjoying a stick of dango. Then out of the sheer oddity of nature she sneezed. A sneeze that echoed throughout the whole forest. But the real tragedy came when the stick that pierced through the remaining three dango fell from her hand. Slowly, gravity acted on it. Plummeting downwards toward the earth, the kunoichi tried to reach for it but soon enough the ground had made its appearance.

The stick of dango fell on the ground as its remains scattered on the ground. She clawed the remains of the food as she held it up. Tears fell down her face.

"Why Kami why?!" She cried as she felt her heart being stabbed. "We had a deal. I kill the hebi pedo and you give me unlimited dango works. Is this punishment for all those years of sadism?"

* * *

Hours Later at Training Ground Seven, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto and Kasumi had finished their breakfast a long time ago and met up with their team. As usual, they had received missions that were made for ordinary civilians and not shinobis. The mere frustration of painting a fence could not be describe with mere words. Especially, if it wasn't your own fence. After that they had continued on some team exercises and the rest of the team had begun water walking. Kasumi had learnt it and both she along with Naruto asked Kakashi if they could have the day off since they really wanted to brush up their skills on Fuuinjutsu. All those scrolls shouldn't just be lying there under a well protected seal. Kakashi thought about it for some time and was clearly messing with them when he was deep in thought as to how he could mess with them.

"Hmmm." Kakashi hummed in entrancing thought as he put a hand on his chin. His other hand had that all too familiar book only this time it had a blue cover.

Icha Icha Violence. Naruto merely glanced at the book. He was sure that this was the book that Kakashi had exchanged with Zabuza the Demon. Naruto would lie if he said the stuff wasn't pretty _deep._ Naruto did read it before. Only Icha Icha Paradise once. And that was before Kasumi had moved in. The mere color of that book had reminded him of her and he thought it would be a good book considering that the author of the book was Jiraiya the Toad Sage, one of the Densetsu Sannin. Now imagine his surprise as the once romantic story turned out to be a full blown, erotic smut. Honestly the stuff that Jiraiya wrote could make even Itachi Uchiha blush up a storm.

The details, the plot and everything else was just so clear. So clear that one could easily see the main character 'Jiroya', who was clearly not named after Jiraiya, and Tsunaya, who was clearly not named after Tsunade the female Sannin, engaging in heavy sexual activities. Naruto was in a sense glad that he had read it once before. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to come to deal with the fact that he did harbor feeling for Kasumi. Now another thought crossed his mind.

'How did I have time to read Icha Icha Violence during my training years?' He wasn't sure of it himself. At least he burned the book with a Katon jutsu. If Kasumi had seen him with that book, he shuddered to think what she would do to him for reading stuff like that. He was pretty sure that some kunoichi considered it a personal mission when it came to destroying those books. Well, at least Kurenai Yuhi did. He remembered that clearly she had burned down an entire section of that rack that contained those divine books of smut and sex.

"Maybe you can go." Kakashi said as both genin had massive sweat drops on their heads. He then dived his nose into the binded book of smut again.

"So is that a yes or a no sensei?" Kasumi asked. By the log she wanted to destroy that book.

"Hmm. Did you say something?" Kakashi said as he looked up from his book. The genin weren't even looking at him anymore. Both of them were rather talking with Sakura. Kakashi felt like someone had stabbed his heart with a rusty kunai. 'How could they ignore my signature jutsu?' Kakashi had a major sweat drop on his head, but in reality he was crying in a manner so anguish even the Valley of the End seemed like a much more peaceful place considering the landmark's history.

"Wait you're serious?" Sakura asked with a newfound strength in her voice.

"Ah-huh." Kasumi said as if it was the most casual thing in the world. She had that foxy grin on her face.

"I don't really see why you're really surprised by this Sakura." Naruto said. He too had a light smile on his face. "You are our teammate. It's only natural that some of your training should be done with us."

Naruto was still a bit disappointed that he would have to share his training time with someone else other than Kasumi. Usually at the end of their training sessions they would engage in some sweat drenched make out sessions and normally he would be the one to carry her to the house in a bridal style. Not that he minded, he rather enjoyed that and always pictured older version of themselves doing that at one point in their lives. It seems that he did inherit some of that foolish match making habits of his mother and aunt, in all but blood. The reason he agreed was because some of those sessions would get their hormones raging and training Sakura seemed like a good way to distract from such thoughts and activities.

"Arigato Kasumi." Sakura said as she smiled. She looked at Sasuke who merely scowled at her joy. Sakura Haruno was many things. She came from a civilian family, her father was a chunnin who had to retire because of a certain injury that had injured his leg to a great extent. He could never channel chakra into his right leg ever again thus his hopes of becoming an elite jounin were snatched away from him. His wife Mebuki Haruno was on the Civilian Council. She too was one of the haters of the 'Kyuubi Brat'. Over time, her hatred had diminished and came to a conclusion that perhaps they were wrong about the child. Of course not everyone on that thrice damned Council agreed with her. Sakura herself had turned a new leaf after seeing the vast improvement Kasumi had made ever since retaking the genin exams.

Sakura was also determined to advance by leaps and bounds just like the hyperactive, orange wearing kunoichi. Good thing for her as her chakra control was unrivaled among her peers. Even Naruto had admitted to Kasumi that Sakura's chakra control was perfect considering they were merely genin but the greatest downside was that her chakra reserves were very small. However, Naruto had then mentioned to Kasumi that hard work can always trump natural talent. Kasumi was a living example of that theory. Thus, they agreed that Sakura Haruno would be trained and be a better kunoichi. She had decreased some of her fan girl tendencies but still had a long way to go as a few moments ago she had looked to Sasuke Uchiha for approval.

Kasumi was excited that Sakura would be training with them. True they did not get along well back at the Academy but that was because she was blinded by the idea of looking for Sasuke's approval. The mission with Zabuza had changed her one directional mind and showed that merely depending on others will not do. Naruto had agreed because not only did he want his teammate to become a better kunoichi but also because of his own selfish reasons. He knew that the Chunnin Exams would be coming soon enough. They were held twice a year and he knew for a fact that the last Chunnin Exams had happened already and the new one was arriving soon. He shrewdly agreed so that their team had a better chance of reaching the finals. The sooner he became a chunnin the better.

"Don't worry about it Sakura." Kasumi said as she noticed the scowl on the duck butt haired Uchiha's face. No way was she going to let this chance get away. "Who knows? You may become even as strong as teme over there-ttebayo!" Naruto sighed he knew why she said this. Sasuke was becoming more antisocial by the day. Ever since he awakened the Sharingan his pride had boomed up even more.

Honestly, how is it that two brothers from the same family be so different? Itachi was calm, collected and calculative. Never showed his emotions, controlled them to the extent that no one could ever understand as to how his mind exactly worked. Sasuke was talented, there was no doubt about that. His potential as the head clan of the Uchiha Clan was also commendable. However, his arrogance and drive for revenge would one day be his downfall if he wasn't careful enough. Naruto was glad that his brothers weren't like that. Both of them were good people. Shisui had died probably for the sake of the village that he grew up in. Obito had died in the Third Great Ninja War to bring victory in the decisive battle. Yes, no brother of Naruto was a genocidal, mass murdering psychopath bent on destroying the world or controlling everyone on it.

* * *

Somewhere in a mountain, Northern Outskirts of Otogakure.

A man wearing an orange mask stood alone in the dark unforgiving cave filled with darkness. He wore a black cloak patterned with red clouds that covered his entire body from the neck down all the way to his heels. He had spiky, raven hair and orange swirl shaped mask had a single eye hole on it. He stood there as his lone crimson eye with three tomoe surrounded the black dot in the center of his iris. There was no one else here. Only him and him alone. For a long time this has been an experience for him. He had long rejected the world and everything else in it. Too much hatred was flowing in this world and he would be the one to stop it. No more winners, no more losers. A world where every one would-

"ACHOO!"

The man sneezed as the noise of his reflexive act echoed throughout the cave.

"Someone must be talking about me. Probably Pain."

* * *

Meanwhile back at the plot at Training Ground Seven.

"W-What?!" Sakura said as she felt embarrassed at the comparison Kasumi made with her and Sasuke.

"I'm serious." Kasumi said aloud making sure that Sasuke heard every. Single. Word. "You're going to be a bad ass kunoichi in no time."

"Hn" the Uchiha Universal Grunt was heard. Three of the four genin looked at the latter with each of their expressions being varied.

Sakura had a downcast look on her face. She knew that she wasn't as strong as Sasuke nor did she have the potential. In her mind she was merely a child of two civilians whereas Sasuke had hailed from the mightiest of the Uchiha Clan and that too from the Main House. Of course, it was just the Uchiha Clan now considering there were only three people left from the clan. Once more the Masked Man from the deathly glooming cave sneezed once more only he was pissed this time.

Kasumi gritted her teeth at 'the Teme'. She didn't like him before and being on the same team as him only served to make her resent him even more. From the time she spent with Naruto she had learned that Sasuke wasn't always an ass, but he did show behavior that he had the proverbial stick up his ass like the eighty five percent of his clan. But he had fully embraced hatred for his brother and that's what made him reject everyone and merely stick to his path of vengeance. When she asked Naruto whether he hated Itachi, Naruto replied that he didn't know. But he did state that Itachi would receive one hell of a pounding for killing Mikoto. When asked what he would do if he were in Sasuke's place, Naruto gave a reply that had both an answer and no clear solution.

 _"Would I be able to kill my brother? The last of my family?"_

Naruto himself was a bit disappointed at how Sasuke's behavior was turning out. It was starting to become like that of his father's Fugaku Uchiha's. The man was a good shinobi and a strict police chief but he was far too reserved for his own good. He had banked his pride on Itachi while he always made comparisons between his two sons. That's what led to Sasuke becoming a bit obsessed with catching up to Itachi even as a child. It was a good ambition but all of that changed when Itachi had murdered all of the Uchiha Clan. If this kept up then Sasuke would be losing his head sooner than he kills Itachi. The activation of his Sharingan only fuelled his arrogance even more. In short, Sasuke was on a path that would not end well for him.

"Teme." Kasumi said as she gritted her teeth. "How many times have I told you not to do that?" She asked with a seething anger. Naruto was mentally glad she didn't go into the Orange Menace mode.

"Urusai." Sasuke said as if he didn't care. "You're optimism makes me sick sometimes. Sakura maybe a good kunoichi but to say that someone as pathetically as weak as her will reach my level… was fucking rubbish."

Silence.

That is what resonated within Training Ground Seven. Even Kakashi, whose face was so dived into the blue binded book of smut, had come of out his 'comfort zone' to hear the brutal remark Sasuke had just made. Sakura teared up. Her green iride clad eyes were threatening to leak out tears. Kasumi tried to reach for her teammate and friend but soon enough she ran. Kasumi once more looked at Sasuke with a glare that could kill. She didn't bother calling the bastard for what he was, in her eyes. She ran after Sakura. She needed to help her teammate for the moment. As soon as the two kunoichi disappeared the tension in the atmosphere had shifted.

Kakashi Hatake had a serious expression on his face. This is expression was not seen since the Land of Waves. His lone onyx eye observed the raven haired genin. He had to make sure that Sasuke Uchiha's pride didn't increase too much to make him fly far enough only to fall down. But even he knew that it might be a bit late. Kakashi remembered his past self when he looked at Sasuke. Rookie of the Year. Naturally talented. No nonsense personality. Always thinking of the mission / goal more than anything else. Seeking strength to improve oneself. Get up to the top of the food chain. Yes he was a perfect copy of Kakashi during his genin days. That is exactly what Kakashi feared the most. He didn't want another person to end up like his past self.

Kakashi had lost his father as young boy. The suicide by Sakumo 'the White Fang' Hatake had left quite the scar on the silver haired jounin. A scar that did not heal until he had nearly lost everything. He lost his teammates. Obito had died under a rock and bequeathed upon him his legacy: the Sharingan in his left eye. He had made Kakashi adapt his Nindo, to never choose the mission over their own comrades. He had killed Rin Nohara himself after she willing stood in the path of his **Chidori / One Thousand Birds.** The Raiton jutsu made by Kakashi had pierced her chest and killed the person who was forced to be the Sanbi Jinchuuriki. Then months after that, he had lost his sensei Minato Namikaze in the Kyuubi attack. His wife Kushina who would sometimes comfort him during his tumultuous time had also lost her life. Their legacy was alive and under his watch. Obito's brother was alive and he too was under his watch. Kakashi would be damned before he lost the last two links to the people who were close to him. However, he also would not let favoritism get in the way. The reason he could not train the team properly was because of his duties as an elite Jounin. While he was sure that Naruto knew, he had often left them with Shadow Clone as he would go to take part in A Ranked Missions. Now however he had duties as a Jounin sensei.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said as he eyed the heir of the dojutsu wielding clan. "Never speak like that to your teammates again."

"Why should I?" Sasuke said in retaliation. "Why should I treat them like my equals? Especially that screeching fan girl of all people. She should just give up now and leave this team."

"Regardless of what you think you don't make those decisions Sasuke." Kakashi said with a stern tone. "And I wasn't requesting you to behave like that. I was _telling_ you."

"Whatever." Sasuke brushing off the words of the Copy Ninja as if it were dust on his clothes. His onyx eyes now landed on the other person who was present there.

Naruto Uchiha.

Sasuke looked at him for some time. More specifically at the look he was giving him. A face that showed no emotions at all, unless Kasumi was around. Naruto had that same damned expression as Itachi and Sasuke hated that. Even now, he felt the same presence he felt whenever Itachi was around. A feeling of being outshined every time no matter how far he goes or how hard he trains. How could someone like Naruto who grew up being ostracized by both the clan and the civilian villagers in general grow up not being affected by it? He had lost his parents. His brothers. Yet here he stood, strong and resolute while not wavering before the test of time. He even had Kasumi Uzumaki who lived with him, loved him and would no doubt be there for him when he would be down.

'Why?'

'Why is he so strong?'

'How can he grow so strong even with all the things that were thrown his way?'

Sasuke closed his eyes and activated his Sharingan. The onyx irides in his eyes became replaced with crimson orbs that had a black opaque center in them. Two tomoe in theleft eye and a single tomoe in the right eye. They weren't rotating. They wouldn't rotate unless all three tomoe were present. Naruto merely looked at Sasuke as if he were passing by. The mood swings this boy had was starting to annoy him now. Kakashi sighed and spoke once more.

"Any specific reason to why you activated you Sharingan Sasuke?" the masked jounin asked the Uchiha in question.

"That's none of your concern Kakashi." Sasuke said as his eyes were fixated on Naruto. Naruto Uchiha simply stared at Sasuke. He was trying to figure out what exactly Sasuke was trying to pull off here. Then it clicked. He remembered it now. He was supposed to have a spar with Sasuke. Naruto had nearly forgotten about it.

Is that why Sasuke was so pissed?

Maybe

Maybe not.

"Naruto do you remember what I said yesterday?" Sasuke asked as he had a smirk on his face. This wasn't a smirk of arrogance. No this indicated excitement on some levels. Uchiha in general had a thirst for battles. It was why they were considered one of the most proficient and deadliest clans during the time of the Warring States.

"Hai. I do." Naruto said as looked at his sensei / brother figure. "Sensei. Sasuke had asked for a spar yesterday. We're going to start now."

"That was sudden." Kakashi said. "Are you sure you two want to fight?"

"Yes." Sasuke replied immediately as both of them looked at the genin. "I want to see how far I've come along. This is going to be a good test."

"Okay then. I'll be sitting there and reading this helpful book." Kakashi said in a non chalant manner. Now this action got both genin to sweatdrop and look at their sensei with deadpan expressions who was eye smiling at them. "Don't worry if anything happens I'll be here to stop the whole skirmish."

"Arigato sensei." Naruto said and looked around for a bit he didn't see Kasumi anywhere nor could he feel her near here. "Say sensei?"

"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Is…" Naruto stopped before sighing once more. His curiosity was getting the better of him. "Is Violence better than Paradise?"

Sasuke merely stared at the two in confusion.

'Violence? Paradise? Are they some sort of codes related to jutsu? Or are they ANBU Codes? It must be pretty important if-' All of Sasuke's thoughts were shattered when Kakashi suddenly started crying tears of joy from his lone eye. 'What the heck is going on?'

"Naruto.." The jounin sobbed before speaking once more. "I'm so proud of you. At least someone understands the importance of these books. Don't worry I'll make sure you get the new one."

Sasuke got annoyed. The two before him were talking about smut. He gritted through his teeth. How could they be doing this at a time like this?

"I think it would be better if you didn't sensei." Naruto said as the image of a certain blonde haired girl came into his mind. Her hair bangs covered the eyes as the hair itself was menacingly floating around. "I really don't want to die young."

"Meh meh Naruto. Didn't know someone could get whipped at such a young age." Kakashi said and Naruto felt a little embarrassed. I mean come on sure he was afraid of Kasumi when she went into that mode. It wasn't like she had him wrapped around her fingers.

'Who the fuck am I kidding?! I am WHIPPED!' Naruto thought with a sweat drop. Soon enough, Kakashi had stepped away but Naruto had gotten the signal Kakashi had sent with his eye. A narrow look followed by a soft one.

'Don't hurt him too bad.' Naruto merely bobbed his head lightly, to Sasuke it seemed that Naruto was shaking his head at Kakashi's words. Naruto then turned to Sasuke whose focus was entirely on the fight.

"I just realized something." Sasuke said as he took the stance of the Uchiha Interceptor Fist. A style that Naruto knew all to well. Every stance, every kata, every little movement depended on well timed counters. Hence the name Interceptor Fist.

"What would that be?" Naruto said as he still didn't activate his Sharingan. He took the Interceptor Fist stance as well. 'Let's see how Sasuke fares against me in this way.'

"This is the first time we are actually going to spar." Sasuke said as he narrowed his eyes on Naruto. HE didn't activate his Sharingan. 'Is he looking down on me?'

"Indeed. Let's see how this spar goes Sasuke." Naruto said as he merely stood still. He would not be the one to attack. He wasn't that foolish. Besides this would also tell him how much patience Sasuke had.

Fifteen seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Forty five seconds.

"Damn you attack already!" Sasuke said out loud. Naruto instead broke the stance and merely sat down. Naruto was also seeing how Sasuke handles his temper well. "That's it!"

'Not that well apparently.' Naruto thought as he saw Sasuke going straight towards him and launched a fist at Naruto. Naruto back flipped and avoided the fist that hit the ground. 'That was good timing. He's fast as Sumi. So he's naturally faster than her. Maybe I've been going easy on her easily'. Naruto once more caught an incoming fist which belonged to Sasuke. He then twisted his arm a little and hit Sasuke's chest with his open palm.

Sasuke did feel the effects of the open palm striking his thoracic area. The blow was a bit heavier than he expected.

'That blow was much harder than it should be.' Sasuke thought. 'He doesn't have weights… so why are his punches packing so much force. He doesn't seem the type to rely on his fists alone.' Sasuke thought before once more engaging in a taijutsu fight once more. Both were exchanging blows, as each of their respective moves cancelled out one another.

Sasuke was smiling during the fight, something that Naruto picked up on. As each punch and kick were being negated Naruto decided to crank it up a bit.

He jumped back and made the ram seal.

'Is it a jutsu?' Sasuke said as he couldn't see any chakra build up in his system. Then he saw symbols forming around to cover his body.

"Kai." Naruto said as his clothes moved a bit and the wind around him picked up and thrust around. Sasuke thought it was some type of Fuuton jutsu but there was no build up of chakra at all. Naruto then began stretching and performed a few situps. "Sorry. It's been sometime since I decreased my body weights."

Sasuke merely looked at him with wide eyes.

'He was wearing weights this whole time?!' Sasuke screamed in his mind. He too had known about weights. But most of them were physical weights made of wood with chakra receptors on them. He then remembered Naruto being a bit talented in Fuuinjutsu. 'Weight Seals…. I should've known.'

Then Naruto disappeared in front of his eyes.

Slowly Sasuke felt a very inhuman chill run down his spine. He knew there was someone behind him. Sasuke couldn't turn around. He wanted to run. All his battle instincts told him to flee from the position he was standing but he couldn't. The sheer thick intensity of the Killing Intent that was emanated into the air was truly terrifying. For a moment Sasuke felt he was touched by death as he felt a shoulder on his hands.

"Is that it?"

A voice said.

The voice belonged to Naruto Uchiha. He was looking at Sasuke in a disappointed manner, though Sasuke didn't know it. Naruto was wondering if he should just stick to taijutsu or kick it up a few notches. All of his options depended on Sasuke's reaction to what he would do next.

"You're not strong enough. Not yet anyway…. weakling" Naruto said in cold unforgiving voice. Make no mistake some part of the cold Uchiha shinobi he had become was still there. He just hid it very well. 'Let's see what you will do now Sasuke.'

If there was anything that Sasuke hated more than Itachi Uchiha in this shinobi world it was being called weak. Ever since he began his steps to becoming a shinobi, his father would constantly compare him to his perfect older brother. No way was anyone calling him weak again.

"Why you!" Sasuke yelled as he turned around to punch Naruto only to get decked across the field. The force behind the fist was brutal as Naruto knew that some of Sasuke's teeth would be rattling. It was a lesson he needed to learn. Sometimes fighting head on, arrogantly without a plan against a stronger opponent resulted in suicide. Sasuke needed to learn that lesson, easy way or hard way.

"Not good enough Sasuke." Naruto said as he slowly walked towards the duckbutt haired Uchiha. "You need to learn when to give up. So what will you do?"

"NEVER!" Sasuke spat out. "I am not weak! I am an Uchiha! I was born to be a warrior! There is no way I am going to go down in a fight without trying. Whether it is against you or anyone else!" Sasuke said as his Sharingan eyes were fixed on Naruto.

"Hn." Naruto grunted out of annoyance. It seemed that the Heir to the clan still did not understand the problem he was in. "Such confidence. But… do you have the necessary skills to back your words?" Naruto asked with a bored expression on his face. He wanted to see not only if Sasuke could think that far ahead but also as to how far he can go.

"Stand still and find out." Sasuke said and weaved through hand seals at a speed that most genin could only dream of. Of course Naruto was no ordinary genin. Those hand seals were the Uchiha rite of passing. A jutsu that the clan was all too famous for.

" **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu/ Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"** Sasuke said the attack of his name as a red fireball spewed forth from his mouth and was rushing towards Naruto who looked bored.

"Katon jutsu of that level," Naruto said as he made the single tora hand seal "won't help you against me."

" **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu/ Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu."** Naruto said before unleashing his own similar jutsu. However the differences could not be more clearer. It was burning with a brighter orange color and the size of the sphere of fire was much more larger than Sasuke's own as Naruto's jutsu devoured Sasuke's own. The orange fireball then rushed towards Sasuke who got away after realizing that his jutsu would soon be overpowered. He rushed towards the tree and was planning out his next move.

'Kuso!' Sasuke cursed inside his mind. 'His Katon is stronger than mine… but there has to be some weakness. Something I haven't seen yet.' Sasuke watched as Naruto looked towards the tree Sasuke was and for a moment he saw that Naruto's eyes flashed red. 'Shit! He knows where I am!' Sasuke then rushed over to another tree but was halted in his path.

In front of him stood a pale woman who was hunched over. Her jet black hair covered her face entirely as she crawled towards Sasuke at a slow and menacing pace. Sasuke realized this was not real. Something like this could not be real. He made the ram hand seal and channeled chakra.

"KAI!"

The genjutsu did not dispel as the woman still crawled towards him. The distance between them decreasing.

"KAI!"

Useless.

"KAI!"

The woman was near him now. The hair on her face moved away with the flowing wind. No skin was there on her face. Just the stinking odor of rotting flesh. Maggots crawled out of her mouth. Her eye sockets were empty as she smoked out her breaths that stank of death. She then started to chew on Sasuke's face. The skin beneath his lower lip was torn off as he scooted back away in pain.

"This isn't real!" Sasuke yelled as the woman was crawling once more. "KAI!"

"KAI!"

"KAAIIII!"

The world shattered away as he fell from the branch on the ground. Naruto was still looking at him as if he was a fly. He was a fly. Right now Naruto had beaten him with a single genjutsu. Sasuke needed to control his chakra more and the genjutsu he was inflicted with was quite a handful. The pain that he felt was surreal. Sasuke was unconsciously touching the part which had been bitten off in the genjutsu.

" **Iatsu Sharingan / Coercion Sharingan."** Naruto said. He then walked towards Sasuke who was still on his knees on the grassy ground. "Do you know that genjutsu Sasuke?"

"…" Sasuke was still breathing a bit heavily. The experience of it was a nightmare.

"I could've simply used a **Magen/ Demonic Illusion** or **Genjutsu: Sharingan** to slow you down or knock you out. I used Iatsu so that you can learn something today." Naruto said in a non chalant manner.

"Learn…what exactly?" Sasuke said as his breathing steadied a bit.

"Learning that there is a time to fight and a time to walk away. I wanted to see if you could control your emotions after I called you a weakling." Naruto said as he looked down at Sasuke who merely seethed at his words. "You fell for the bait and ended up attacking me. You did however break through my killing intent. That was a good feat. Then again I haven't exactly used it in a long time. But still you're good, no doubt because of the fact of the endless hours you've trained. Of that there is no doubt."

Sasuke smirked a little at his words. He was a bit happy that someone was acknowledging his skills. Naruto was the first person to appreciate his skills as a Shinobi, he didn't look at him like an Uchiha. He accepted the raw comment he made.

"However, your emotional control is horrible." Naruto said. "Whenever you are called weak or Itachi Uchiha is brought up you lose your temper. See… you're doing it now."

Sasuke was indeed glaring at Naruto with the Sharingan activated no less.

"You need to control your temper Sasuke. You want revenge. I can never really understand the pain you're going through. My father had died before I was born. My mother had died in front of me when she was sick. I never got to see the dead bodies of my elder brothers. However, I do know what it is like to lose your family. So I do understand some of the things that go through your mind. However, you shouldn't let anger or vengeance cloud your reason. Otherwise, you will never last against someone like Itachi." Naruto said. Every word he said was true and Sasuke knew it. When it came to his parents he did lose his temper more quickly than he could imagine. You can't exactly blame him for that. Watching your own parents being killed by your loving elder brother for seventy two hours straight is bound to mess up a person.

"Also another thing Sasuke." This time Naruto activated his Sharingan to emphasize the seriousness of his voice. "You need to kick down your confidence a bit. What you said to Sakura was very demeaning. Just because she is not from a shinobi clan, doesn't mean that you should berate her like that. I've noticed that ever since you awakened your Sharingan you've gotten too arrogant. Make no mistake Sasuke… you'll end up dead sooner than you think."

"Urusai." Sasuke said as he tried to stand up a bit. He was still wobbling a bit. 'Damn his genjutsu.' Sasuke was still reeling from the effects of it. "What the hell do you mean by that? The Sharingan is the ultimate Kekkei Genkai. It doesn't have any weaknesses."

"It has a lot of weaknesses. I can tell you from experience." Naruto shot down Sasuke's point. "The Sharingan does have its limits. You just haven't been in that situation yet. I hope that you will apologize to Sakura for what you did today. We are a team after all. Now come on, let's get you to the Hospital." Naruto said as he put his hand forward.

"I don't need help." Sasuke said. "I can get there fine." Sasuke said and immediately contradicted himself as he felt the weaknesses of the chakra expulsion he had done. He still needed to work on that badly. He felt someone grab his arm and saw that it was flung over Naruto's shoulder.

"You can complain about this all you want later. But now let's get you to the Hospital first. Kami knows Miko-obaa-chan would chew me out in the afterlife if I didn't help you." Naruto said as he smiled a bit. Sasuke too smiled but he hid it. He didn't want Naruto to see it. He smiled because he remembered his mother. No matter what happened she was always there. She always supported him. She would always make his day brighter. She was kind soul. Even Naruto knew that and Sasuke was a bit glad that someone else remembered her except him.

Kakashi merely eye smiled at the entire event. He watched the two genin disappear in a Shunshin. He looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Well. At least they'll get along better than we think."

* * *

One Week Later, Main Town, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto Uchiha was walking at a moderate pace with Kasumi Uzumaki. They both had ice cream in their hands and were walking at a close distance. Of course they would've held hands had it not been for the three brats that were there with him. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. The three Academy students were walking with them with their own ice creams in hand. Naruto was a bit annoyed at their behavior. They kept talking, running, complaining and even whining at times. He was legitimately starting to hate kids. He wondered if all kids are like this. He was pretty sure that he wasn't so annoying as a child. Then a thought came across his mind.

'Oh Kami!' Naruto conjured up worrying thoughts as he kept his face on neutral mode. 'W-What if my kids are like Kasumi? What if they were that hideous orange garb?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!' Naruto was screaming inside his mind as he noticed that Kasumi had asked him something. 'Okay Naruto you got this don't worry. Just say yes and it will be okay.'

"Yes." Naruto said without knowing just what he had said yes to.

"See. Kono I told you that all ninja should wear orange!" Kasumi said and Naruto merely sweat dropped at his own blunder. He really needed to stop dazing off into his own thoughts so much. Just like he was doing now. Then he noticed that Konohamaru was running from Kasumi who was three steps away from going into Menace Mode. He needed to diffuse the bomb before it went out. Then he noticed that Konohamaru fell down around the corner of the turn they were about to take.

A teenager wearing a full body cat suit with strange purple make up on his face was standing there. He had a strange device on his back that was moderately large and was wrapped in bandages. There was another teenage girl standing with him. She had a darker shade of blonde hair that was done in four pony tails. She had battle fan on her back. She was wearing a light lavender, battle kimono with fishnet underneath it along with a skirt that came upto her knees. She also had teal eyes. Her chest was also quite developed. Just around the same size as Kasumi's, however she was probably a year or two older than them.

Naruto however saw the hita-ate they carried.

'Suna.' Naruto thought. This only meant that the Chunnin Exams had officially arrived. That must've been the reason Kakashi had left in a hurry. He did notice that the masked jounin was staring intently at a carrier bird in the morning during their team training session, which went rather well considering Sasuke had apologized to Sakura after one hell of a tongue lashing from Kasumi. Now he focused on the two foreigners before him.

"Gaki." The make up man said as he picked up Konohamaru by the collar. "Apologize for running into me."

"Kankuro let the brat go." The girl said as her eyes scanned the two Konoha genin. She smirked when she saw Naruto and had a light blush on her face as he noticed his smooth, spiky raven colored hair and his facial features.

"Give me a second Temari." The teen known as Kankuro said. "I just want to teach the brat some manners."

"Oi miss!" Kasumi said as she pointed her finger at Kankuro. "Let him down you weird chick!" Temari couldn't help but snicker at her words.

"Hey!" Kankuro said a bit angry at the comment. "I'm a guy!"

"Eh?!" Kasumi was a bit shocked. "Then why are you wearing makeup?" She asked genuinely and this time Kankuro was a bit red with embarrassment. Temari this time giggled at him openly. The kids even Konohamaru was laughing at him. Naruto did not. He felt five other chakra signatures nearby. Three of them were hiding in the rooftop a bit away from them. Two were in the tree. One was Sasuke. The other one he didn't know. But the chakra signature was unstable and large. It was a bit unnerving if he was honest to himself.

"Its not make up its warpaint." Kankuro replied. "Whatever I'm just gonna teach this brat som-" Kankuro never got to finish his sentence as he felt something sharp on his neck. Another Naruto was standing behind him with a kunai being placed perfectly to rupture a vein.

'Kage Bunshin.' Was the collective thoughts of the eight genin in that place.

"I highly suggest you put Sandaime-sama's grandson down." Naruto's clone said as the Sunagakure residents' eyes widened. Kankuro did put down Konohamaru as he was told. The clone dispelled and the real Naruto spoke up this time.

"Come out of that tree Sasuke. I know you're there." Soon enough at Naruto's words Sasuke did come down. He was a bit more co-operative after last week's lesson. It was a good thing too. "You as well… hider in the trees."

Then a boy with red hair came down from the tree. He was a bit shorter than everyone else there, except Kasumi and the kids. He head teal irides, a pale complexion and black bags surrounding his eyelids from the lack of sleep. He was wearing clothing reminiscent of the hidden village from Kaze no Kuni. He also had a tattoo over his left eye with the kanji for 'Love'. He also had an emotionless expression on his face. His chakra reserves were boastful though. That and he had a gourd on his back.

"G-Gaara!" Kankuro spluttered out as a look of fear and worry came over his face.

"Kankuro." The shinobi known as Gaara said. "Stop embarrassing our village here." Kankuro and Temari merely stepped back as Gaara locked his eyes on the three Konoha Shinobi. "Who are you three?"

"Residents of this village." Naruto said. Something was off about this guy.

"Clearly." Gaara replied. "What are your names?"

"What for?" Sasuke said this time. "Besides what are shinobi from Suna doing here?"

"Don't you know?" Temari asked the three of them.

"The Chunnin Exams." Naruto said as both Konoha genin stared at him. "Since you are here it only makes sense that the Chunnin Exams are going to be held here. If that's correct than other shinobi from foreign villages must be here as well."

"You're right there." Kankuro said as he looked at him with a glare. "I got my eye on you at the exams."

"Hn." Naruto gave the grunt as Sasuke approved with a smirk and Kasumi pouted. "You're not worth the effort."

"What did you say?!" Kankuro said as he reached for the bandaged appendage on his back.

"Kankuro." Gaara said in a threatening tone. "Stop it. Or I'll kill you myself."

This got quite the effect on the full body suit wearing genin. Naruto merely looked at a building. He needed to get eyes there as well.

"What are your names may I ask?" Gaara asked in gruff tone.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke said as he looked at Gaara with a spark of a fight in his eyes.

"Kasumi Uzumaki. Remember the name of the person who's gonna kick all your butts-ttebane!" Kasumi proclaimed and everyone simply stared at her.

Gaara then looked at Naruto with intent eyes. His teal colored eyes were trying to figure what the blue eyed teen was trying to figure out.

"Well what's your name cutie?" Temari asked as she broke the silence looking at Naruto who merely sighed. He could see that Kasumi was a bit pissed at Temari for calling him that.

'Now imagine how I feel when every guy leers at you.' Naruto thought as he glanced at Kasumi. He then looked to Gaara who seemed to be running out of patience.

"Naruto Uchiha." Naruto replied. He was not taking his eyes off Gaara. His danger senses about this guy were not decreasing at all.

"I see. You interest me Naruto Uchiha." Gaara said.

"I don't like guys." Naruto said as a wind flew by. Nobody said a word as everyone simply stared at him in deafening silence.

"I didn't mean that." Gaara said with a monotonous voice.

"Then stop saying weird stuff like that." Naruto said. He then turned around "See you at the exams Gaara. Let's go Sumi." Naruto said as he took Kasumi's hands into his own and disappeared in a Shunshin. The three Sand Siblings walked away and Sasuke found himself in a bit of a bind.

"Hey duckbutt!" Konohamaru said as Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. "Take us to the Sarutobi Clan Compounds."

'Damn you Naruto you did this on purpose!' Sasuke scowled in his mind. 'When I get my hands on that fuck… I'll make him pay me with a jutsu for this.'

* * *

Three Days Later at the Konoha Academy.

The team consisting of four genin had made it past the second floor and were walking when they heard a voice stop them.

"Please wait!"

A voice said. They turned around to find a boy just around as old as them. He had a bowl haircut, wore green spandex and had bandages around his arms. He also had the biggest eye brows that anybody had ever seen. Naruto couldn't help but remember a certain green spandex wearing classmate from his brother Obito's generation. The description matched but the age didn't. Despite his appearance the guy was strong, Naruto knew it. He could feel that the guy was a hard worker, even though he couldn't feel any trace amounts of chakra on him. The group of four had previously seen him on the second floor trying to plead with the not so well disguised eternal chunnins who guarded the genjutsu door, which was clearly a screen to decrease more students.

"Thank you for waiting." The genin said.

"Okay but what do you want Bushy Brows?" Kasumi said immediately giving the unnamed genin a name she thought best.

"You see." The bowl haired boy blushed and looked at Sakura and suddenly had flowers in his hands from Kami knows where. "Please accept my love Sakura-chan!" He then gave a nice guy pose as he showed a thumbs up and his teeth sparkled.

Everyone noticeably cringed at his posture. Naruto was already trying to release the Genjutsu. It wasn't working.

"EHHH!" Sakura said. "No way I'm going to fall for someone like you. I like Sasuke-kun." To add more emphasis she even gave Sasuke a one sided hug. Sasuke didn't complain. One because he didn't want to be a jerk immediately and two, Kakashi had punished Sasuke. By… making. Sasuke. Read. Icha Icha. For an entire day. The whole day. Needless to say, it was confirmed that Sasuke Uchiha was not a closet gay. Everyone was somewhat glad at that revelation while he himself had fumed at their reactions.

"No!" The spandex wearing genin exclaimed. "I see Sakura-chan. Then I will fight for your love." He said as he took the Goken stance and looked at Sasuke. Naruto realized the deadliness of the stance and was pretty sure this guy's sensei was a youthful person.

"I challenge you Sasuke Uchiha." The boy said. "My name is Rock Lee. The Handsome Green Wild Beast of Konoha."

"No thanks." Sasuke said as he was going to walk away.

"Is that so?" Lee said. "I expected more from the Uchiha Clan. I never thought that users of the Sharingan would walk away so easily."

That was a low blow. But, that was the point.

"You know what. Just for that-" Sasuke was going to finish but Naruto raised his hand in front of the former.

"Calm down Sasuke. It's clear that he wants to gauge your strength. And from the looks of it, he may be stronger than you." Naruto said as he eyed Lee intently.

"What?!" the same response came from the other three genin. This fashion disaster was stronger than Sasuke? How in what hellish illusion was that possible?

Lee was a bit surprised that his weak display image was shattered by the other Uchiha. The blue eyed one.

"You are Naruto Uchiha." Lee said. "The other last Uchiha of Konoha. Would like to engage in a spar with me?"

"Rock Lee. As much as I would like to trade blows I can't." Naruto said casually. "Besides, wouldn't it be better if we fought in the tournament?" He said and waited for a moment as Lee took up that pose once more.

"Yosh!" Lee said as his teeth sparkled once more. "We shall fight in the exams then Naruto-san! May our flames of youth burn bright!"

"Don't call me with the san again." Naruto said as all of them cringed again. "Just call me Naruto. And don't say those flame things again."

"It seems that someone is unyouthful." A voice made itself known.

The voice came from behind the other three genin. It was a clone of Lee. Only older. More spandexier. More bushier browed as Kasumi thought. More… does the author dare say it… youthful.

The three genin were shocked to see the man standing behind them. They didn't even feel their presence.

"Guy nii-san." Naruto said as he watched Might Guy behind them.

"Well if it isn't Naruto-kun!" Might Guy said as he ruffled the young Uchiha's hair. Naruto didn't mind honestly. These people were former comrades of his brother. Therefore they were a part of his past. "You've grown up quite well. No doubt you're strong as well. Let us see how youthful your flames can be!" He too did the nice guy pose as Lee joined him.

God… my textual eyes hurt imagining the scene. Naruto didn't say anything and was merely looking away. He then looked at Guy and spoke.

"Gomen… did you say something?" Naruto asked.

Might Guy's frame turned white and shattered before him.

"Damn that Kakashi and his hip attitude!" Guy proclaimed. "To think that my eternal rival would pass on such a trait to his students is most unyouthful."

"Wait rivals?!" Sakura asked. "You're rivals with sensei?"

"That's right." Guy said. "In fact in all of our spars I have the lead of 49 wins while he has 48." He said as the other genin were a bit shocked at his words. Naruto knew Guy was strong, unbelievably so at a ridiculous level that shamed taijutsu masters. However, some of their spars, from what he learned from Kakashi, weren't spars at all.

"Guy sensei!" Lee proclaimed as tears fell from his eyes. "That is such a great achievement. I too shall defeat them and keep up your legacy."

"Lee!" Guy said as he too cried manly tears. "You are the most youthful student anyone could ever hope for!"

Naruto immediately Shunshined out of there.

* * *

Near the main hallway.

Kakashi was reading his smut as usual.

"Shizura-chan is quite the masochist here." Kakashi said out loud as he giggled at the contents of the book that had sacred texts of smut. He then noticed that Naruto had come running near him and was catching his breath. "What's wrong Naruto? Where are the others?"

"Might Guy and his mini clone arrived." Naruto said as he sat down on the floor. "They were probably going to do that Sunset Genjutsu."

Kakashi shivered as he thought of that. The one genjutsu he could never break out of. The Sandaime Hokage had even labeled it as Kinjutsu. The other genin on his team must be suffering right now.

"You left your comrades behind Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Hey I am willing to give up my life for them. But I am not going to see that sight in my eyes… ever. Period." Naruto said.

"Well let's just hope that they aren't too scarred by the experience." Kakashi said. "So what do you think of the competition Naruto?"

"Only one stood out. Gaara from Sunagakure." Naruto said.

"The Kazekage's son huh?" Kakashi said.

"So he is Rasa no Subaku's son? That must mean he is a sand user like the other previous Kazekage as well." Naruto sighed. "There's something wrong with that guy. I don't know what it is."

"Well the chunnin exams are always interesting. Who knows what lies in for all of you?" Kakashi said. He then saw that all of his teammates arrived, albeit muttering something about sunsets and 'I can't unsee that.'

'I was wrong they were scarred.' Kakashi thought.

'Thank the Log I wasn't there.' Naruto thought. He then looked at the door. His next step as a shinobi lied just beyond that door.

"I am glad all of you made it." Kakashi said with an eye smile as all the genin smiled and smirked. "Remember you faced Zabuza and came out of it. Not many genin can claim that. But make sure that you don't underestimate the competition. Now go there and make me proud.

The four genin then walked towards the door.

'This tournament…. Is a step closer to becoming stronger.' Sasuke thought as he smirked

'I need to get stronger. I'll prove that I can be better.' Sakura thought.

'Sugoi!' Kasumi screamed in her mind. 'First chunnin. Then jounin and then finally Jiji will give me that hat.'

'Nii-san became chunnin at his first try. Let's see if I am as good as you were at this age. ' Naruto thought.

And then the doors of the room had been opened.

* * *

 **Yeah!**

 **Gonna end it right here. You know why?**

 **Well you know why. I am sort of tired of writing this for over three hours straight. Plus it seems like a good spot to end the chapter. If you want to know who the woman in Naruto's genjutsu was just watch 'Juon: The Grudge.' As you people saw I have considerably made Sasuke less of an ass, and Sakura less of a banshee. I don't hate them, but that doesn't mean I exactly like them too. Don't worry, this is not a bashing fic. But some of it will come up in small amounts. As for why the humor content is going up…. Well you'll find out in the next few chapters why**

 **I hope you guys liked with what I did with the chapter here. Hit that follow and favorite button if you think this story is worth it. And also make sure you guys review. ABSOLUTELY REVIEW. I need your feedbacks and I can know how you feel about the story. It's our fuel you guys make sure you give us enough so we can keep pumping out chapters.**

 **Also, Merry Christmas you guys! This maybe the last "Naruto: The Uchiha Prodigy" chapter I publish this year. I should be able to publish a new "Shinobi Mage" chapter on the 28th. Just pray that I can. OH! And I may have a treat of a new story for you guys on New Year's Eve. I am not saying what it is just know that it is going to be a Naruto fic that will be updated monthly unlike the rest of my works and it is a compensation for discontinuing "Madara's True Legacy".**

 **Take care. Merry Christmas! Have some turkey and some pudding…. But send me some as well. Ja ne** **J**


	17. Encounters and Revelations

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to overwhelming readers' advice I have discovered a great stupidity I have committed in this chapter. Hence I have completely edited a part of this chapter affecting the entire plot. So in short, this is a RE-Edited chapter.**

 **And with the few strokes on my keyboard a whole new year filled with God knows how many chapters I can come up with has begun. The Uchiha Prodigy began in October and here we are in January with over a 1000 follows and favorites. Thank you to all my readers who have stuck with this story from the very beginning, your initial support was very inspiring to me. Now, let us get on to the story at hand. I don't know if I said this before, but the Uchiha Prodigy will only deal with the Part I story. For Part II or as most of us call it Shippuden, that will be done on a new story. I haven't come up with the name yet, but don't worry I have every plan to finish this story. It is the one thing I must do. Now that the Chunnin Exams, are here, I am not going to bother write about the first part. I will give a short recap about it, but the story will pick up from the Forest of Death i.e. the Second Part. I don't think there's a point in dragging out events that are going to go in the same flow as canon.**

 **Oh and one more thing. Naruto Uchiha in my fic is strong. Trust me when I say it he is very strong, you're going to see a bit of his true potential. Mind you when he fought Mangetsu he didn't go all out as he was worried about Kasumi's chakra leaking out. That and because of his lack of experience he seems like this. You will find out in this chapter as to what I mean.**

 **With that said, read the disclaimer and read away.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION. NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, STUDIO PIERROT, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Location: At the Entrance of Training Ground 44 AKA The Forest of Death, Konohagakure no Sato.

Several teams of genin stood near the restricted area. The area in question was a large forest that had a menacing outlook to it. Just from a sheer glance, anyone could tell that the Forest promised pain, horror and death itself. The genin that had entered the room of the first exam had been lessened but still not down to the figure that the proctor of the second exam wanted. The proctor of this section of the exams was Konoha's self proclaimed 'The Incredible and Sexy' Anko Mitarashi. While, everyone would be a fool to deny the latter part of her statement which was backed up significantly by the voluptuous figure and scanty clothes that the woman wore, the former characteristic was one that could be argued upon easily. She was a pure sadist, and one that took too much fun in torturing, and in some cases teasing, people.

She had, as usual, arrived much earlier than she should have at the first exam and saw that her superior Ibiki Morino, Head of Torture and Intelligence Department and this time the first Proctor of the Chunnin Exams, had ended the first exam with far more finalists than the usual figure that shows up every year. Twas then that she 'promised' all the genin that were going into the next stage that there would be less than half by the time they get through her exam. And now, the genin shook in fear as they saw the woman who was eating her dango while leaning on the metallic fences with signs that restricted entry, promised danger and most of all said clearly that you had a chance of dying if you entered this place.

Kasumi Uzumaki was a bit nervous right now. Academics weren't always her forte, but spending and learning these things with her boyfriend had increased her general knowledge more than she thought but the questions that had been placed in the first exam were much more, tougher than it should be. Fortunately for her, the first proctor had provided a leeway out to the next stage, which her brash and impulsive nature took advantage of and her little monologue gave more spine to some examinees. But now she was nervous altogether for a different reason.

'Of all the places it had to be….' Kasumi thought with a frown. She still remembered those giant ass spiders whose multiple eyes stared into your very soul. What was worse was that Naruto had essentially abandoned her here for survival training. In reality he was just hiding from her in a very discreet fashion. She looked at her boyfriend who was …reading a book.

"Naru why are you reading a book now?" Kasumi asked. Her eyes were inquisitively observing the cover and was glad that the book didn't have any orange cover on it or didn't have the words 'Icha Icha' on them. Said person looked at her.

"Well, I am kind of bored here waiting so." Naruto said and kept reading some more but felt like there was something wrong about this situation. He realized why. There was someone behind him.

"Getting bored are we gaki?" A voice said as he felt something soft rub against the back of his neck. He blushed a bit knowing full well who that voice belonged to and saw that Kasumi was furiously glaring at him. Not just Kasumi, most of the guys that were there were glaring at him as he suddenly felt something nick his cheek and he knew that blood flew out. It was Anko Mitarashi whose face now rested on his shoulder as she licked his cut cheek and tingled. Everyone there, even Kasumi, cringed a bit at the sight.

"Grown up well haven't you Chibi-kun?"

"Anko-san." Naruto remembering how Shisui used to talk about 'this hot crazy chick that's a sadist' as Shisui used to say to Itachi. She was a part of Obito's batch as well, and he bumped into her once or twice while going to get some pocky and she too recognized him as Obito's little brother. She did always call him Chibi-kun, and had asked him to call her by a specific name. "Would you kindly not kill me today?"

"Mou Chibi-kun~" She said and pulled the back of his head into the valley of her well endowed breasts that her attired did nothing to repress. Kasumi's eyebrow was violently twitching at Naruto and the crazy lady. "Remember what I told you to call me?"

"Yes." Naruto said as red stained his cheeks. 'Kasumi is going to chew me out for this later.'

"Then say it." She said in a more teasing voice. Naruto sighed. This woman was too stubborn, how he pitied the man who would end up with her. In another part of Kenso no Kuni, not specified or decided where a certain person sneezed due to the reference made.

"Hebihime." Naruto said begrudgingly and she only proceeded to kiss him on his cheek now. That was the last straw for Kasumi.

"OI CRAZY PROCTOR LADY!" Kasumi said while pointing a finger at said person and Naruto who was nervously sweating bullets now. "Stop molesting him like that!" She said this while she had some red on her face out of anger, jealousy and embarrassment. Who the hell did this hussy think she was? Doing that to Naruto in front of her no less?

"Eh?" Anko asked curiously as her eyes darted from the blonde haired, orange clad girl over to the sweating Uchiha who looked like he was seeing a ghost. Oh Anko knew what was going on alright. Kurenai had told her a few days ago, that she saw two very romantic genin in love and she concluded that this was the said couple her red eyed friend was talking about. She decided that she wanted to tease some more. Instead of letting him go, she tightened her grip and spoke, "What's wrong Tomato-chan? Do you want to be here in my place instead with Chibi-kun?"

"I said let go of him dattebayo!" Kasumi said as her sun kissed blonde hair with streaks of red in it started to flow up and nearly every genin that sported a leaf headband were rushing away from the spot. The Orange Menace was here.

"Run!"

"Get the fuck out of my way!"

"Code Orange! We have a Code Orange"

"Troublesome Naruto… why can't he control his troublesome woman more?" Shikamaru said who was also surprisingly running away and with some energy as well.

The rest of the foreign genin were staring dumbfounded at what was happening. They had a 'What the fuck is going on?' look on their faces. But then they too realized what was happening as they felt the temperature drop. Even Gaara was noticing the change in the atmosphere, he wasn't scared but he was interested as to what was going on here.

"Okay." Naruto suddenly said as he magically broke free from Anko's control and stood beside Kasumi who was still glaring at him and he had his hands gesturing her to calm down. "Calm down Sumi. She was just-"

"Molesting you!" Kasumi yelled out as she grabbed Naruto by the collar and was shaking him violently. Then she headbutted him and he was out cold while his soul was trying to escape through his mouth. Kasumi literally grabbed his soul and shoved down his throat before punching him again to wake him up. Naruto opened his eyes.

"Good Kami." Naruto said as he groaned in pain. "I had the worst nightmare."

"Oh Naru-kun~" Kasumi chirped in voice too sweet as that smile on her face unnerved him to his core. She then picked him up by the collar once more.

"Kukukuku." A small chuckle broke both of their concentration. Both of them faced a Kusagakure kunoichi who was giggling into her hand. "You two make quite the couple." The young woman said whose smile and tongue was just way too unnatural to the both of them. There was something strange about her.

"Weird" Kasumi said as she looked at the Kusa kunoichi. Meanwhile, Anko had disappeared from her spot and was handling out documents. They stated that no one would be held responsible if the said genin inside the Forest die. Team Seven of course had signed the form nearly immediately. Sakura had been a bit hesitant but she too had signed after seeing how fearlessly Kasumi had done so. In doing so, Team Seven had received a scroll that had the Kanji for Earth. Then all attention had turned to the second proctor once more.

"Alright you brats!" Anko exclaimed with vigor. "Each of you brats have been given a scroll. They are either 'Earth' or 'Heaven'. The next phase of this exam is a Survival Mission. Each of you will be given exactly three days to reach the Tower that lies in the center of Training Ground 44. However, to get into the tower you need two scrolls. Not just any two scrolls. You need a Heaven and Earth Scroll. Only those with both scrolls and all members will be allowed to enter the Tower. Otherwise kiss your ass goodbye from the exams."

"What will we eat for three days?!" Chouji exclaimed with horror as he thought about the sheer hopelessness of being without food for more than a few hours. One does not simply expect an Akimichi to go on without food.

"I don't know. And I don't care. Eat animals. Rabbits, spiders, other genin. Hell. You can even eat your own shit. Shit it out and then eat it again." Anko said not really caring what anyone thinks of her. Naruto merely sighed at Anko's words. She was a wild one. Kind of like Kasumi. Only more crazy, foul mouthed and to some extent violent in another manner. "Well. Don't just stand there and keep staring at my sexy body… Get the fuck in the Forest!"

Then groups after groups of genin ranked shinobi rushed into the Forest of Death. It was either that or get more sessions with Anko Mitarashi. Taking their chances in a forest seemed like a much better option.

"Ah young ones." Anko said as she ate another stick of dango. "I wonder how many will live after this. Not my problem. Hokage-sama was the one who came up with this shit." She then happily ate the dango as if it were the most sacred thing in the planet. How she relished the taste of it.

* * *

Training Ground 44 AKA The Forest of Death, Konohagakure no Sato.

"Why do we have to be in this forest again?" Kasumi said as she jumped from tree branch to tree branch along with her team.

"Again?" Sakura asked as she looked at Kasumi who had a whiny expression on her face. She then saw that Naruto had sighed while Sasuke was a bit indifferent in looks, but his body language clearly stated that he was a bit interested in what Kasumi was trying to say. "Wait Kasumi you've come to this Forest before?" As if on cue, Kasumi started nodding at a furious pace.

"Hai. This forest is just way too creepy-ttebayo!" Kasumi said as she shook at the memories. She then accusingly pointed her finger at Naruto who shrunk a bit under her gaze. "Naru used to leave me here all alone so that I learned how to train."

"WHAT?!" Sakura yelled in surprise as she looked at Naruto who wasn't looking at them and was instead whistling away. "Why would you do that?! What if something happened to her?"

"Oi oi." Naruto said. "I was always around. I just masked by presence perfectly. You didn't honestly think that I'd be able to leave her alone in a place like this?"

"Then why did you do it in the first place?" surprisingly it was Sasuke who had asked this question. Naruto looked at the both of them while Kasumi was cutely pouting in the corner.

"Simple. To make her stronger." Naruto replied as if it was the most simple thing in the world. "I know some of you may think that it was potentially harmful to her that I left her here to fend for herself but it was necessary. The Shinobi World is a cold and cruel one. I know that there are many people in the world who are revered as heroes but once you take away all the glory and the opinions that each village have of their own shinobi you find them for what they truly are." Naruto finished as the Sasuke and Sakura looked at him to say something more. Kasumi didn't she sighed and looked at the ground. This was something that Naruto had taught her a few days ago.

"What is that?" Sakura asked. "What are shinobi truly?" Naruto looked at her and thought about saying something else. But realized it was high time that Sakura learned a very important lesson. One that she needed to learn if she wanted to continue her career as a kunoichi, and Sakura had been showing the right determination and focus ever since the Zabuza incident. Though, in his opinion she could be a little, even more less clingy with Sasuke.

"Shinobi by their very nature are killers." Naruto stated as the area around them grew even more silent at his words. Sakura indeed had that conflicting look on her face. Sasuke for his part knew what shinobi were. After all, the general rumor was that Itachi had snapped under the pressure of being in the ANBU at a young age is what caused it. "I know the words I am saying may seem a bit harsh to you Sakura. But sometimes you should ask your father what it used to be like back when he was young. My brother certainly told me. We are lucky that we are growing up in peaceful times. Back when Shisui-nii was around eight that was when he was sent into the battlefield. It was mandatory to get your first kill by the age of ten. Shinobi Programs were rougher back then, and it simply kill or be killed."

Everyone just stood quiet at the words Naruto Uchiha had just spoken. Those were cruel and blunt words he had used. However, it did not change the fact that he had spoken the truth. He had not hesitated, but Naruto saw the looks on their faces. Even someone like Sasuke would have a hard time when experiencing their first kill. It was completely natural. Seeing how they were shaken up Naruto decided to turn their ships towards a different direction.

"However," Naruto said as all three genin shifted their gazes from elsewhere to direct it on him "that doesn't mean that shinobi are just killers. They are human beings as well. They have their emotions, their own aspirations and mostly the dreams that they embrace. If a person lets go of these and become a mindless, murder machine that only knows how to take orders… that is not a shinobi. That is a tool. Remember we are shinobi. We endure, we fight, we kill, so that one day we can let all of it go and just back to live out the rest of our lives of what little we have." Naruto said.

"That was really dramatic Naru." Kasumi added her two cents and Naruto was glad that she did so. Honestly, his little speech had played a little on their spirits. Thankfully, they had the most energetic and cheerful person in the entire village on their team.

"Okay. Then I have an idea." Naruto said.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked. He had taken Naruto's words into consideration and was thinking about Itachi as well. He realized that Itachi too must have had to go through the same experience that Shisui had gone through, despite Shisui being a bit older than Itachi he remembered the two of them being close friends. Did Sasuke consider Naruto a friend? He didn't know, but he did find Naruto more tolerable than the other people of Konoha. As far as Kasumi was concerned, she was still a potential good wife for him, but he was pretty sure that Naruto would cut him down if Sasuke even looks at Kasumi in a wrong way. For now that matter was pushed all the way to the back of his mind.

"Well. Since I am a sensor I can pretty much feel other shinobi nearby. It would be better if we split up." Naruto said. "We'll be saving a lot of time this way."

"How do we split up then?" Sakura asked. She was a bit worried. True she had improved after last month, more specifically after last week. Naruto was a slave driver in her mind. Kasumi had told her that this was light training. She had seen Naruto dive into the water and stay there for some time while he was blasting off Katon / Fire Style jutsu from underneath the water. The usual orange flames that came from Naruto were brighter and seemed much more attuned to the color yellow. Apparently this was an elemental chakra control that his family did, hence why they had large affinities for fire. The heat of the flames had also gone up as it had become brighter. Of course she did earn a light glare from Kasumi as Naruto had come out of the water without a shirt and she had to admit, in terms of pure body structure Naruto beat Sasuke by a long shot even if he was fourteen. I mean the guy had fully toned abs for Kami's sake.

"Well. You, Sasuke and Kasumi stick together and guard our scroll. I should be able to handle squads of genin as I am now. You three can fend off squads if they come for you. So win win?" Naruto asked the last part with some nervousness.

"That sounds like an ok plan. Where do we meet?" Sasuke was the one who asked.

"Well I would prefer to meet you at the Tower, but just in case flare your chakra once every two hours if I am not there. I'll surely be able to sense at least one of your chakra signatures going off." Naruto said. Then Sakura was the one who spoke up and gave quite an idea.

"Wait. What if someone henged into you and ambushes us?" Sakura asked and every genin realized they hadn't thought of that. Well, Naruto didn't even consider it since they were just genin and no genin would be stupid enough to go after his group. Hell he'd burn them up just for trying.

"We need some sort of a code." Sasuke said.

"But what? It can't be numbers or something. It could be a few words." Kasumi said.

"I may have one if you are willing to listen." Naruto said thinking about the book he read a few days ago. He wasn't sure where a book like that came from. It was quite strange too, but it seems like an endless fantasy. He found it lying in the Naka River. From the looks of it, it seemed like that someone had thrown it away. The book was quite damaged too. It had a note saying that whoever found it would be its owner and get all the rights to it, it even had the chibi drawing of a man with dark crimson hair giving him a thumbs up. It was a bizarre encounter but seeing the note he decided to accept it. He had to rewrite all the contents of the book too. He had to admit whoever, originally wrote it was very good.

"What is it? Tell us Naru." Kasumi said.

"Okay remember these lines. I am not going to say it so that a genin passing by doesn't hear it twice. Okay?" the three genin nodded at Naruto and he spoke up once more. "Infinite in mystery is the Gift of the Goddess. We seek it thus and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface. The wandering soul knows no rest." Everyone just remained quiet at the words he said.

"Naru did you make that up?" Kasumi asked as she had some stars in her eyes for some reason. Naruto was a bit wierded out by that. What made it even worse was the fact that Sakura too had such a reaction. Sasuke for his part was staring at Naruto with a look of praise.

"Erm.. yes." Naruto said. And immediately they had more cheeful looks on their faces. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just those were some very good verses. How did you come up with it?" Sakura asked with vigor.

"Well." Naruto lied perfectly. "I was thinking of writing a book. So…"

"Why didn't you tell me Naru?" Kasumi asked with a bit of whine and the she cutely glared at him.

"Well I was going to write it for you as a birthday gift." Naruto said and Kasumi beamed up while she was blushing pink now. "Anyways I guess I should go and find a scroll. See you later." Naruto said as he disappeared in a shunshin.

"He still hasn't taught me that." Kasumi said with a whine. Then she looked a bit lost and was scratching the back of her head. "What were the lines again?"

"You're hopeless." Sasuke said and moved while Kasumi was giving him the stink eye.

* * *

Timeskip: Two Hours Later, Eastern Section of the Forest of Death, Konohagakure no Sato.

"No no wait we're giving you the scroll." The Amegakure shinobi said as he threw his scroll towards Naruto Uchiha who had his Sharingan activated and was glaring down at them as he unleashed his killing intent. The brown haired before the young Uchiha was no fool. His other two teammates had been foolish enough to challenge the raven haired boy and one of them immediately had his arm twisted at an awkward angle before Naruto had snapped it. The other one rushed him with a kunai but ended up getting stabbed in both knees as Naruto had nearly crippled him with his own weapon.

"Good. Now sleep." Naruto said as the brown haired Ame genin looked into the Copy Wheel Eye before getting groggy and falling back. He examined all of them. The other two would live but would have some injuries. 'Amegakure genin taking part in the Chunnin Exams. Last I heard they only minded themselves and were sheltered against the rest of the other villages. Also that Otogakure team was here. They way he attacked Kabuto using wind chakra was good, but weak compared to mine. Then of course, there's Kabuto. That man is hiding something. It seems hard to believe that someone could fail at the Chunnin Exams so many times. The information he had on the genin was too detailed as well. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was…' Naruto stopped his train of thought.

"A spy." Naruto scoffed. "Maybe he's from ROOT. It seems possible. I'll have to keep an eye on him. Or better, place a genjutsu on him." Naruto picked up the scroll, the Amegakure shinobi had thrown at him. He observed it before giving his opinion on it.

"Fuck my life." Naruto said as he saw the kanji for Earth. "Four Teams. Four different fucking teams. 12 Shinobi and not a single one of them had a 'Heaven' scroll. Of all people." Then Naruto's sensory perception went haywire as he felt a familiar chakra presence. It was vile, malicious and thick. It had a eerie sense of showing no mercy to its opponents.

The Chakra of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. More specifically, Kasumi was channeling the Fox's chakra.

Naruto pushed chakra to his feet and was rushing to get there as fast he could. He felt another chakra signature near the three. It was quite large too. Undoubtedly it was as much as the Lord Third. But that raises another question?

What was a Kage level shinobi doing here in the Chunnin Exams?

'Stay safe Sumi. I'm coming.' Naruto thought as he rushed at full speed. He had even gotten rid of every weight seal that was on his body. He needed to get to the North Eastern Section as soon as he could.

* * *

Location: North Eastern Section, Forest of Death, Training Ground 44, Konohagakure no Sato.

Kasumi Uzumaki was beyond pissed right now. She had left a few minutes earlier to use the little ladies room. Unfortunately in a Forest, you needed to be on your guard as well. Not just from the random large ass animals, but also from the competition right now. She knew that one or two of the teams would show up, some of them would even have lecherous and rapey thoughts in their heads when they saw a girl alone in the Forest. But after some time of finding an appropriate spot and getting the dirty deed done, a large snake had appeared and it tried to devour Kasumi Uzumaki. It even swallowed her as well.

However, halfway through the throat, Kasumi Uzumaki proved why she was 'naturally awesome' as she spammed the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu from the insides of the slithery creature to overload its body and spit it out. Then magically the snake disappeared in a puff of smoke. She learned that the Snake was a Summon. Naruto had previously told her what summons were due to the bizarre way of how he himself had acquired a Summoning Contract with the Direwolves. Which Kasumi thoroughly chewed him out for. Then she rushed back to her teammates so she could tell how she killed a large snake. But then she stumbled upon the same Kusa kunoichi who was giving them weird looks today. She had user her killing intent to subdue Sasuke and Sakura and she wanted to do something to Sasuke but Kasumi was not letting that happen. She could tell from the dirt stains on Sasuke's clothes he had been beaten up as well.

Out of sheer rage of being outclassed, Kasumi had tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra once more and she 'killed' another snake out of the rage. She had even called Sasuke a wuss for cowering out in front of the Kusa kunoichi which made him daze out of the fear as he took Sakura a bit of a distance away to make sure she doesn't get involved in the battle. Now she was facing the Kusa kunoichi, as she unleashed her **Kongo Fusa / Adamantine Chains** after the nameless, creepy kunoichi who was avoiding the chains at any and every cost.

"My my Kasumi chan." the kunoichi said as she licked her tongues. "You're quite the kunoichi aren't you? Using those Uzumaki chains on me. Looks like you're stronger than what I've heard. If that's true then so is little Naruto-kun. Perhaps I'll go after him next after I'm done playing with you. Who knows? I may even let him live after I'm done with him." She said with a laugh that sent shivers down anyone's spine.

But there is an unwritten rule that applied to Kasumi.

You never... never talk shit about Naruto in front of her or threaten his life.

"What did you say..." Kasumi said as her eyes turned crimson with black slits across them. More violent reddish orange chakra surrounded her body as her whisker marks became more prominent. Her long, smooth blonde hair with streaks of red in them looked wild and feral as her nails too became a bit longer, while her teeth became sharper. "... you condescending, snake tongued, pale skinned WHORE?!"

Kasumi rushed with deadly speed that surprised the Kusa kunoichi a bit. But she was avoiding the now wild Jinchuuriki, who despite being in control would make a mess out of everything in sight. The kunoichi for her part was dodging the chains and firing out **Fuuton** jutsu one after another. There was one severe disadvantage to Kasumi entering this state. It did provide a power up no doubt, but it also decreased her thinking capability as she was lashing out as a mad animal.

Then she was being overpowered by the Kusa kunoichi and she felt a pull on her leg. It was a snake as it pulled her and hung her upside down as the Kusa kunoichi got near her and pulled her shirt exposing her smooth skinned belly that. The kunoichi had five symbols appearing on her fingers as she slammed it into Kasumi's stomach where the **Hakke no Fuin / Eight Trigrams Seal** was visible and now there was another seal surrounding the seal as Kasumi yelled out in pain.

"That should keep you down for some time Kasumi-chan." the kusa Kunoichi said as she kept Kasumi hanging this time she hung our favorite blonde kunoichi by a ninja wire. Then she noticed that Sasuke was back and was looking to help his teammate. The kunoichi engaged Sasuke in taijutsu, and for his part Sasuke was doing well too considering the kunoichi was obviously not a genin under any circumstance. Then just like Kasumi before him, he too was being outskilled by the kunoichi. It was obvious the kunoichi preferred to mess with her opponents. She gave them a flicker of hope before taking it away.

Then she felt something was off. The previous kunai and shuriken that Sasuke had thrown at her had missed but the look on his face said something else. Then the kunoichi felt a tug on her kimono as she was pulled and stuck to a tree by the wire as it firmly planted her against it. Sasuke smirked as he had the tip of the wire on his teeth which he tightly clenched as he made hand seals and ended at tori as his fingers also held the wire.

'Time to use that jutsu.' Sasuke thought as he learned this technique from Naruto nearly a week ago. Sasuke was yet to do it without a conductor, but Naruto had assured him that Sasuke would be able to use it more proficiently as time went on.

" **Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu / Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"** Sasuke said as flames ran along the ninja wires and raced their way at a menacing pace as it surrounded the kusa kunoichi and was burning. Sasuke felt a bit sick as he saw the flames engulf her body. He could visibly see that her skin was melting a bit. Then he heard Kasumi calling him out.

"Oi Teme!" Kasumi yelled as Sasuke saw her hanging upside down. "Get me down from here!"

"Alright dobe. Stop shouting." Sasuke said and saw that Kasumi had an angry expression on her face but then it changed to one of horror as she shouted out.

"Teme! Look out!" Kasumi yelled as Sasuke felt a jolt of pain going through his body. The kunoichi was back albeit missing parts of her face as pale white skin could be seen in the places her skin had melted off. She then viciously proceeded to beat Sasuke and smiling at the same time. She then bit Sasuke on his neck as he yelled out in pain. Sasuke had a strange symbol on his neck that looked like three tomoe. Sasuke had fallen unconscious and Kasumi was angry once more. But she could not feel the furry fox's chakra leaking out. Hell she couldn't even feel her own chakra building up. It was like someone had... She then looked at her stomach and saw the seal. She had seen the swirl seal on her stomach before but now there were five strange kanji surrounding it as well.

"Kukukukuku." the disfigured Kusa kunoichi giggled like a mad woman. She slowly neared the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi like a natural predator. She had reached the branch the mad woman had been standing on before. She then looked at Kasumi and said teenage girl was in fear. Fear of the yellow iris she was seeing right now. It was like snake's as there was a single black slit that promised torture and every sort of pain that was possible in the Shinobi world.

"I had no idea that the dead last from the Academy would turn out to be one of the few people who would give me a problem here." the woman said as she finally cut the wire and grabbed the falling orange clad girl by her foot and then slammed her on the branch making her arch her back in pain. She then picked up Kasumi and punched her in the guy making her spit out a little bit of blood before kicking her to the tree trunk. Kasumi then fell on her front as she felt a foot being firmly brought down on her back making her wince in pain. "Originally Sasuke-kun was the only one I was interested in. But now..."

The Kusa kunoichi picked up Kasumi and held her by the collar with one hand as she had a kunai in the other. This one had a sort of purple coat on the edge of the kunai.

"Perhaps I should make room for another experiment. After all, it's not every day you come across an Uzumaki who can use the **Kongo Fusa** like second nature. You will be good research material indeed. Don't worry though. I am not going to kill you this is simply to keep you numb." the snake eyed kunoichi said as she swooped in her kunai to cut Kasumi. As she prepared for the kunai she kept her eyes open and her bright violet eyes looked at the kunoichi with anger. Said Kusa kunoichi was a bit surprised at the defiance that Kasumi showed, but soon to be victim would not receive any mercy. But then something unexpected happened.

Five kunai came flying in at the Kusa kunoichi who had used her kunai to deflect all of them. It was Sakura Haruno who had a wire in her hand and she tugged on it, as Kasumi used her other foot to kick the Kusa kunoichi's hand. Then a volley of shuriken came as well. This time the kusa kunoichi had to let go of Kasumi both from the kick and to dodge all the shuriken. Kasumi was free falling as she tried to angle her body to let her feet touch the branch. Then her foot shot off the branch as she had no control over her chakra.

'Shit!' Kasumi thought as she plummeted towards the ground. She closed her eyes to think of a way out of this. 'Dammit. My chakra control is shot. If there was only some way. I don't even enough wire with me to...'

Kasumi was broken out of her thoughts as she felt her descent being considerably lessen. She felt like she was gliding through the air. Then she realized someone was carrying her. She opened her eyes to see a sight she was relieved to see. Raven spiky hair that came down to his forehead as two bangs had framed the sides of his face. However, for the first time in her life Kasumi was scared of this person.

Naruto Uchiha had seen Kasumi fall and used all his speed to get there and catch her. Just from the mere crumpling motion she had, he could tell that she had received quite a beating from the Kusa kunoichi. He was glad that Sakura had decided to intervene on his behalf and stall her so that he could catch her. However, Naruto also saw the faint amounts of dried blood that was found on the corner on the lips of the person he had loved the most on this planet. This kunoichi had dared to even lay her filthy hands on her. No force on heaven and earth could stop Naruto now as his Sharingan was sharper than usual as his blood red eyes were gleaming to kill.

Naruto Uchiha was out for blood. And the only person whose blood could satisfy his Uchiha streak of violence was the Kusa kunoichi in question. Said person was still away. She had been standing there for some time as Naruto finally made his way to Sakura who now had Sasuke on her back.

"Arigato Sakura." Naruto said gratefully. "If you didn't interfere... I shudder to think what would've happened to her." Naruto said as Kasumi was tightly held against his chest.

"It's alright Naruto. Besides, we're teammates. You'd do the same for me as well." Sakura said this knowing full well that Naruto or Kasumi would indeed do the same thing in a heartbeat. She wasn't that close to them, but they did care about each other to some extent and even Sasuke himself could say that. Naruto nodded as she noticed a strange look on her face. A look she had never seen before. His Sharingan looked scary now. He then looked at Kasumi who had spoken up.

"Of course we would Sakura." Kasumi said as she was still in his arms. She then looked at her boyfriend and noticed that he was still having that look on his face. Knowing full well that he would not listen to anyone and fight the crazy strong kunoichi head on she decided to speak to him. "Naru... she's really strong. Plus she can use **Fuuton** and she can also use snakes. Large ones too."

"Do the snakes poof up in smoke?" Naruto asked as Kasumi nodded. He inwardly cursed his luck but all logical reason had been thrown out of the window. If anyone even dared lay a hand on Kasumi in a negative way, Naruto would basically issued their death warrants. Whether they would be Kage, Sannin or even Madara himself. To his knowledge there was only one person who could summon snakes and if this person was indeed that certain someone. Naruto would be fighting an uphill battle. But again it didn't matter. He made a Shadow Clone and made it carry Kasumi in her arms. "Keep them safe. Set up a barrier. Use Sakura's blood to make it. Now go." Naruto turned around but felt a slight tug on his sleeve. Naruto turned around and saw that Kasumi was looking at him with a pleading look.

"You don't have to fight Naru. We can just leave this one." Kasumi said as she noticed that the cold look on his face was not decreasing. She then received a kiss on her forehead as Naruto had leaned down to do it.

"It's alright Sumi. Don't worry I'll be there." Naruto said as Kasumi reluctantly nodded. He looked at Sakura and spoke once more, "Sakura. It's up to you to keep these two safe for now." Sakura nodded as the three people and one shadow clone left. He could still feel Kasumi looking at his back and Naruto was feeling a bit relieved as he felt their chakra signatures go away a fair distance. He then unsealed a kunai and in quick succession deflected all the shuriken that had been thrown at him. He looked at the Kusa kunoichi whose disfigured face showed pale skin behind the indents. His fully matured Sharingan was looking at her as if he could kill her with a glare.

"My my. I didn't expect someone from your age to have such a fully matured Sharingan. Looks like I'll have to give you a gift as well Naruto-kun." The kunoichi giggled in her hands as she looked at said Uchiha when she felt a thick killing intent flood the area. If it wasn't for years of experience and meeting other shinobi of S Rank caliber she would've admitted that this was the most intense killing intent she ever felt. However there was something different about this killing intent. It felt like it was trying to weigh you down while there was an impending feeling of not turning your back on the young Uchiha Branch Member.

"I'm going to make you pay in blood for what you did to her… Orochimaru." Naruto said as the Kusa kunoichi stared at him a bit surprised. Then she started to giggle a bit more before she laughed a bit. Then slowly she reached for her own face as she slowly put her fingers on the melting skin and ripped it off. Naruto could clearly see the person who was previously hiding. The person had pale skin white as death, purple marking that surrounded the eye and two yellow irises that had vertical slits in them looking akin to that of a viper looking to kill its prey.

"Well Naruto-kun It seems you figured out who I am. But can your words back up your skills?" Orochimaru said as he looked at the young Uchiha in question. He had already planted his **Cursed Seal of Heaven** on Sasuke Uchiha who was Itachi's younger brother. If genetics were anything to go by, then Sasuke Uchiha had the potential to rival his brother one day. But then there was also Naruto Uchiha who had already proven that he was stronger than Sasuke if the fully matured Sharingan was any indication of a nod to his strength. Then Orochimaru saw that the boy was simply staring at him. But instincts took over as he quickly ducked to avoid a foot aiming for his head. There was a bit wind flowing where the kick had been aimed. Naruto Uchiha was giving him an icy stare as he backed some distance away to make sure not to get too close with the Snake Sannin. Orochimaru simply looked at the previous spot where Naruto had been standing. The projection of the Uchiha in the clearing soon faded away into nothingness as Orochimaru was a bit impressed.

'He placed a genjutsu the moment we started to speak.' Orochimaru thought as he looked at the young Uchiha who took his jacket off and was simply wearing a light, short sleeved v neck shirt and black ANBU styled pants. Naruto unsealed his sword and had laced it some wind chakra. He wasn't a master yet but due to his amazing chakra control he was moving along very smoothly. Shadow Clone Memory Relay helped too. Naruto rushed at Orochimaru with his black katana and was slashing at various different angles which the Sannin was blocking with his kunai. Then Naruto unsealed a tanto from his left and nearly cut Orochimaru's cheek, who swerved his head away. Orochimaru then grabbed Naruto by his wrist and nearly twisted it but Naruto threw the tanto at the rogue nin's foot to make him jump back.

"Well now. I didn't expect you to use underhanded techniques like that. Rare that a genin relies on cheap shots rather than flashy jutsu." Orochimaru said. Naruto still had the sword in his hand as he was measuring the distance between them with his Sharingan. Orochimaru himself was a bit unnerved by that glare he kept receiving. 'He fights like ANBU. Just looking to kill your opponent as soon as possible.'

Then right before Orochimaru's eyes Naruto had sealed the katana back into his fore arm. Naruto himself knew that he wasn't good enough to beat Orochimaru with just a sword. He needed to win by any means necessary. So Naruto did the next best thing. He turned his wrists and two puffs of smoke came near his palms. The left had had Shikyoh, the kusa which had a chain attached to Naruto's arm so he could use it at both long and short range. The right hand had Haohmaru, his trusty Gunbai which had saved his hide so many times in Nami no Kuni. Orochimaru kept staring at the Gunbai and kusa. For some reason, if Naruto had grown his hair really long then he would look like a chibi Madara.

Naruto rushed forward as this time Orochimaru himself had a chokuto now which he hadn't used the entire time. Orochimaru was using it in reverse grip. Each attack was being cancelled. However, to say that Naruto was not that good with the kusa and Gunbai was an understatement. Orochimaru found himself on the defensive, the brat kept using the chains of the weapons to limit Orochimaru's movements and the Snake Sannin had to keep using the Sacred Logs to replace himself before the kusa came down to slash it.

Perhaps engaging the young Uchiha in a weapons fight as he used weapons was not such a good idea. Then as Orochimaru barely blocked the kusa hit he was hit by a large gust of wind as he flew back by quite some distance. Naruto had used a jutsu he had made or rather re-made with the Gunbai.

 **Fuuton: Gunbai Fubuki Kaze / Wind Style: Gunbai Wind Blast.** Naruto stood back and observed the impact of the jutsu. The jutsu itself was made with the idea of it having similar power to that of **Fuuton: Daittopa / Wind Style: Great Breakthrough.** 'Seems I have to work on this jutsu a bit more. Still...' Naruto thought in his mind before rushing off at Orochimaru once more with his Shikyoh and Haohmaru.

'that doesn't mean I'm done with you.' Naruto finished his thoughts as jumped up and sent the kusa once more at an arcing slash as it just missed Orochimaru's head as some of the strands of his black hair was cut. Orochimaru then reached for the chain that had been attached to the end of the kusa's handle. Orochimaru smiled a bit maliciously as he planned to yank Naruto towards him. As soon as he grabbed the chain, a cut appeared on the palm of his hand as some blood started to leak out of it. He licked his own wound and tasted his blood as he looked at Naruto with hungry eyes.

'To think a genin managed to draw my blood. Yes... you will be a good candidate Naruto-kun.' Orochimaru thought as he started to go through hand seals at a fast rate.

"Let's see what you do now Naruto-kun." Orochimaru said as he slammed his hand on the ground and a set of kanji emerged at the spot. " **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"**

A great amount of smoke appeared in the Forest of Death that the two shinobi were fighting in. Naruto used his Gunbai to send a great rush of wind to clear the smoke as Naruto looked at the sight before him. There stood a great green snake as it looked at Naruto while hissing. It had yellow slits just like Orochimaru. It coiled its head before rushing out to eat Naruto who looked at the snake like an annoyance. Five more Naruto appeared beside the orignal as they all jumped at the mouth of the snake.

" **Bunshin Daibakuha / Great Clone Explosion"**

Five large explosions occurred near the mouth of the snake as it recoiled from the explosion. The towering snake was surprisingly still up and then it froze all of a sudden. It looked at Naruto for some time and simply kept staring at him. Then all of a sudden the snake turned towards Orochimaru and lunged at him. The Snake Sannin was wise enough to move out of the way. For his part Orochimaru was a bit confused at what just happened the blast from the clones' explosion was not that much of a damaging factor. What had happened to make the snake attack him? Was the snake blind? Even if it was it could smell its enemy? Then the answer stared him straight in the face.

Instead of the usual yellow irides with black vertical slits there were now two crimson orbs in the snake's eyes with three tomoe. Orochimaru undid the summoning to get rid of the annoying snake problem. Hopefully the genjutsu should wear off now that it was reverse summoned. But now summoning was out of the question as there was a chance that Naruto could trap another snake in a genjutsu state even someone like Manda, who was already a psychotic snake with a severe superiority complex. That meant that Orochimaru would have to enlighten the young Uchiha in terms of ninjutsu.

"Well then. It seems the way forward is clear isn't it Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru said as he took a stance that seemed highly unusual and quite slithery at the same time as Orochimaru's head was a bit tilted at an awkward angle. The Snake Sannin rushed at Naruto who had unsealed his kusa but had the Gunbai on his back. Naruto and Orochimaru were caught in taijutsu as both were cancelling each other's moves. But slowly, there was a slight advantage that Orochimaru held and the unpredictability of his attacks from awkward angles were starting to catch up with Naruto who was barely keeping up even with his Sharingan. Then a very hard kick was delivered to Naruto's chest as he reeled back from the pain. He saw that Orochimaru was already going through hand seals and Naruto made the tiger seal with both hands. There was no need for him to take chances.

" **Fuuton: Kaze Bakuhatsu / Wind Style: Wind Explosion!"** Orochimaru said as he spit out a ball of air that was quite large and was rushing. The ball of slashing winds would explode upon impact and leave some severe bruises. Naruto had successfully copied the jutsu and realized what he had needed to do beforehand.

" **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu / Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"** Naruto yelled as he released the Uchiha Clan's signature jutsu as the bright orange flames bordering on nearly a yellow glow met the ball of wind head on as a wrestling match broke between the two. Then an explosion of fire broke out in the center where the two jutsu had collided as fire spread nearly everywhere surrounding the two. Ironically, a ring of fire was made to enclose the two opponents. Orochimaru himself had no intentions of waiting anymore as he threw a barrage of kunai at Naruto and went through hand seals once more.

" **Ninpo: Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu / Ninja Art: Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu"** Orochimaru grinned as he released his former sensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi's signature kunai raining jutsu. Five kunai had turned into 25 as they rushed at Naruto who had once more unstrapped his Gunbai and started channeling wind chakra through it. This was something he could definitely do without a problem. It was the first jutsu he had come up with the Gunbai.

" **Fuuton: Kaze no Shouheki / Wind Style: Barrier of Wind"** Naruto said as he swung his Gunbai at the direction of oncoming sharp kunai and a wall of shredding winds formed in front of Naruto easily as the height of a tree. The Kunai got stuck in the wall of the raging winds before they were deflected at random directions. Naruto removed his Gunbai to see a white fist being aimed at his face and Naruto felt his face being smashed a bit as he was thrown back by the sheer impact of the fist as his body went straight past the small ring of fire that had formed around them and then being hit on the trunk of a tree. Orochimaru himself held his hand as he felt the impact of that.

'Shouldn't have punched him this hard.' Orochimaru thought as he saw the young Uchiha get up once more. 'He knows how to take a hit. Most genin would be down after a hit like that. But you aren't an ordinary genin now are you Naruto-kun?' Orochimaru thought as he looked at the young prodigy who had clearly hidden his strength while he was at the Academy. According to Kabuto Yakushi, his loyal spy and apprentice Naruto was considered weaker than Sasuke, but there was also the fact that there was never a recorded spar between the two Uchiha. It was clear as daylight that the member of the branch family was clearly stronger than any other genin Orochimaru had ever seen. Even when Orochimaru was a genin he wasn't this strong, he could admit that.

"I'm afraid playtime is over, Naruto-kun." Orochimaru said as he slowly walked towards the young Uchiha. Orochimaru jumped over the ring of fire, not wanting to get his clothes dirtier than he wanted to. "Now its time I give you the same gift I gave to Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru said as the distance between them decreased even further. Every step that the Snake Sannin took was emphasized by the eventual giggles of sheer machination that came from him. Then he noticed that something was not right about this situation. Years of instincts called out to him as he saw Naruto slowly raise his head and looked into his eyes. He saw them changing its shape as the usual three tomoe were spinning in an insane manner as they began to morph into a four bladed pinwheel.

" **Mangekyou Sharingan** " Orochimaru muttered as he saw the famed doujutsu of the Uchiha Clan. The evolution of the Sharingan. The same eyes that Itachi Uchiha had and now he was witnessing them again, before he felt his body's weight shifted again. Mist covered the entire arena as he saw Naruto's eyes popping out of their sockets and then blow up as blood splattered everywhere. Naruto himself lying on the ground dead as Orochimaru stared with wide eyes. He had heard about the Mangekyou having various effects on its users but this was unheard of.

Then a screeching noise came as crows began to fly out of the forest. It was as if the creatures were running away from something. Orochimaru turned around to see a very tall man wearing nothing but a dirty rag of clothing which hid his crotch. His skin was dirty and the smell of shit, piss and maggots came from him. The worst part was he had not head. Instead of a head, there was a large pyramid like triangle on the top of his neck facing downwards as he carried a giant zanbatou like cleaver blade which he dragged through the grass as the blood from the blade was defiling the green with its warm and repulsive blood.

Then the large weapon was mauled at Orochimaru who barely escaped it but the mist made it hard to see as Orochimaru bumped into a tree as small knives emerged from the trunks and stabbed themselves into Orochimaru's body. The man got closer with his blade as Orochimaru realized what he was in right now. The man rushed at a break neck pace as his giant blade finally cleaved Orochimaru's feet off. The Snake Sannin yelled in pain as his hands automatically went into the ram hand seal. He shouldn't be feeling this much pain from a genjutsu.

"KAI!" Orochimaru yelled as he felt the shins of his legs being cut off. Orochimaru yelled in pain once more. 'Curse you Uchiha!' Orochimaru yelled in his mind as he was too busy writhing in pain from feeling his legs being hacked off.

"KAI!" Orochimaru said once more before he felt his knees now being hacked into as bone matter and blood splurged around. 'This… is just .. like Itachi's.' Orochimaru thought as he remembered the shackle of stones being pierced into his body.

"KAI!" Orochimaru said once more as he felt the giant blade aiming for him once more.

"Useless… Useless…. Useless." A voice said as a murder of crows appeared in the middle of the sky as Naruto looked down at him with his Mangekyou Sharingan. "Orochimaru what a pitiful shinobi you are. No wonder you went rogue." Naruto said as he dispersed into crows once more.

The zanbatou was pierced into Orochimaru's thighs as the victim of the genjutsu gathered a large amount of chakra to be free from this pain. Then with all his might as he felt his thighs being ripped away by the warden of this hellish prison of a nightmare.

"KAI!"

The mist shattered into nothing as Orochimaru panted a bit. However, he got no rest as he felt being hit with a large force of wind. Circular winds formed in front of him as they compressed even more to become near elliptical shapes as they cut through the fiber of his clothes and saw that Naruto had his Gunbai in his hands as he made an arc. More sharp winds hit him in the chest.

This was **Fuuton: Kire Enge / Wind Style: Cutting Swallow.** Naruto made sharp wisps of wind with his Gunbai which are also shaped as near ellipses that keep twisting and thrashing before cutting the skin of the opponents. Orochimaru hissed in pain as he looked at the young Uchiha, whose eyes were pulsing with rage at the Snake Sannin.

'It seems that **Magen: Kurai Kouka / Demonic Illusion: Dark Descent** had quite the dazing effect on him.' Naruto thought as his jutsu finished its work. Orochimaru fell back and looked at the young Uchiha with a death glare.

Out of sheer rage, Orochimaru spit something out. A great sword emerged from his mouth as he held the blade in his hand.

Kusanagi no Tsurugi. A legendary sword that can nearly cut through almost everything. He threw the sword at Naruto who used his Gunbai to block it but the force behind the throw was great as he felt being pushed back. Then as soon as the sword dropped to the ground it got up on its own and slashed Naruto across his chest who was barely able to dodge it. Then Naruto felt something go up his leg as he saw nearly fifty miniature snakes emerging from Orochimaru's hand as some of them bit Naruto who kicked them off. Naruto made the tiger hand seal once more as he muttered the name of his jutsu as he jumped in mid air.

" **Katon: Housenka no Jutsu/ Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu"** small miniature fireballs emerged from Naruto's mouth as they aimed for the white snakes below him. The snakes were engulfed in the flames as Naruto once more got slashed this time on his leg. He felt Orochimaru grab him by the collar of his shirt as his face met the ground. Orochimaru was furious at the boy. Not only did he trap him in a genjutsu, he had also managed to make him writhe in pain. Now there was a marking on his current chest that showed the mark of the wind jutsu he was hit with after escaping from that genjutsu.

"Enough. Now… time to give you my special seal." Orochimaru said before his head elongated enough to wrap around his arm as Orochimaru's teeth became sharper looking to mark Naruto as well. Naruto it seemed like a much better candidate at this point. Orochimaru had once more witnessed today what the Sharingan could do. First it was a S Rank Criminal that showed him the gap in their power. That was acceptable, but a mere genin who could do this to him. That was just unreal.

'No… dammit. I've gotta do something.' Naruto thought as he saw in slow motion at how the Snake Sannin's head was coming in closer to his neck. 'I won't let him get me. But how?! How do I do it?!'

The teeth of Orochimaru were just a shy saliva away from diving into Naruto's neck and giving him the same mark as Sasuke's.

'Fuck…. Fuck…. FUCK!' Naruto yelled in his mind as his Mangekyou Sharingan four bladed pin wheel spun a bit and then finally Orochimaru'e head reached in at Naruto's neck.

Then the unthinkable happened. Orochimaru's teeth passed right through Naruto's neck. The entire body of Orochimaru went through Naruto's frame as if he wasn't there as Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock at just what had happened. Then Naruto jumped back. He looked at his arms and was trying to think of just what had happened.

'Orochimaru just passed right through me… like I wasn't there at all.' Naruto thought as he kept looking at his hands and clasping the two together.

'What just happened?!' Orochimaru asked himself. 'Was it a genjutsu? NO…. he was definitely there. Then what was that jutsu?' Orochimaru thought as he began to weave hand seals once more. This time Orochimaru had no intentions of stopping at the moment. He was sure that the explosion from their previous skirmish didn't go unnoticed and he was sure that someone must've noticed at and if he was really unlucky then someone would've found the bodies of the Kusa nin he had killed. It was time to end this.

" **Fuuton: Atsugai / Wind Style: Pressure Damage"** Orochimaru said before he launched a large barrage of wind from his mouth as it raced towards Naruto slashing the very ground near him. Then Naruto looked at the jutsu reaching for him as he felt chakra being transferred to his eyes. Then once more the jutsu passed through Naruto like he wasn't there at all. Of course the area behind Naruto was a complete mess as a ruin of dirt, trees, leaves and grass was behind him showing the full extent of the damage the jutsu had done. Naruto couldn't believe it. He was right.

' **Kamui / Authority of the Gods'** Naruto thought inside his mind. 'I guess the table wasn't lying when it said that **Kamui** grants intangibility to its user. But for how long?... No time to get distracted. First..' Naruto thought as he began to weave through hand seals at a fast rate. His family in particular were famous for Katon and their genjutsu. Naruto could proudly say that he was very good in genjutsu. Even Orochimaru suffered from the nightmares that emerge from his eyes. But Katon… that is something Naruto prided himself on. He was going to use one of the many jutsu his father Genjuro was famous for as Naruto finished the hand seals and stopped at tiger.

" **Katon: Uchiha Okina Kakyuu no Jutsu / Fire Style: Uchiha Great Flame Sphere Jutsu!"** Naruto said as he exhaled a flame sphere that was easily the size of the previously summoned snake's head as orange sphere of flames rushed off at great speeds destroying nearly everything in its path as it looked to melt Orochimaru. This was considered the more upgraded and powerful version of the **Great Fireball Jutsu.** It also consumed a lot more chakra than that. He was glad that Shisui had written his father's jutsu and his mother's genjutsu techniques. Naruto knew some other jutsu as well, ones that were handed down from Kagami to Genjuro to Obito and Shisui, then finally the last living member of that particular bloodline. However the sly snake had bit his hand was already going through the hand seals as he slammed his hand into the ground. Once more a set of kanji appeared on the ground.

" **Kuchiyose: Rashomon"** Orochimaru said as demonic looking gate emerged from the ground as the face of the demon on the gate was tightly shut as it absorbed the entire jutsu but was starting to shake a bit as Naruto was still breathing out the jutsu, Naruto made more hand seals as he felt his chakra being drained away. Using the Mangekyou on such a scale against an opponent like Orochimaru was something he wasn't used to. Plus the usage **Kamui** was also taking a toll as he didn't know the amounts of chakra it would need to moderate the technique properly. He couldn't afford to have Chakra Exhaustion. If he did he was ripe for the taking by either Orochimaru or some other opponents from the Chunnin Exams. He finished his hand seals as he extended his hands.

' **Raiton: Raikou Hitofuki no Jutsu / Lightning Style: Lightning Blast Jutsu'** Naruto thought in his mind as he released the jutsu he had learned from Kakashi sometime ago after returning from Nami no Kuni. A great blast of lightning emerged from his hands as it combined with the **Uchiha Great Flame Sphere** and the impact of the jutsu was working its effect on the gate as it began to violently tremble before the combined jutsu that Naruto had made before it finally exploded as large shrapnel of metal and tiles flew everywhere. Orochimaru too was affected by the jutsu as the combined Raiton and Katon had barely managed to hit him and the exploding rubble had hit him too. Then he saw that Naruto was still there. This time on one knee as Naruto was panting heavily.

Orochimaru was a determined shinobi. Once he set his mind to something he would do it. Now, right before him was a golden opportunity. He could mark the boy. Orochimaru slithered like the snake he was and rushed at the boy as he was nearing Naruto who was staring straight at him, but Orochimaru's eyes were on his hands.

"You're really going to make me wear out aren't you, you slithery bastard?" Naruto said out loud as he closed his right eye. Orochimaru was exactly one foot away from him as Naruto opened his right eye once more. This would probably be the last time he could use the Mangekyou today. Or the Sharingan for that matter. He still would have some chakra left but he would not exhaust himself out as he needed to go back. He had promised to Kasumi he would go back there. Besides, if Naruto's sensory skills were right the cavalry was coming. His right eye was locked on the Snake Sannin's body as he muttered his attack.

" **Amaterasu / Heavenly Illumination"**

A whisper of the word in the wind and soon enough all of Orochimaru's body was covered by the unholy black flames of the Amaterasu. He screamed in pain as she writhed and twisted at the same time. Then finally Orochimaru did something that disgusted Naruto as he held himself back from hurling. Orochimaru spit out something human like from his body as his own body started to melt into nothingness. A new Orochimaru appeared in a different outfit as he was panting now. The flames of the **Amaterasu** were a bit too much to handle for him. The Snake Sannin was staring at the young Uchiha in shock and admiration. Naruto finally deactivated his Sharingan. Using it further would cause a great amount of stress on his body and due to the extensive use of the Mangekyou he could feel his eyes hurting like hell. It was just as horrible as being hit with a couple of Raiton jutsu.

"I really can't believe the amount of potential you have Naruto-kun. You actually made me shed my skin." Orochimaru said as he started to gather his bearings. "All the more reasons that prove that you are a good vessel. However, that Mangekyou of yours proves a problem. It seems that Sasuke-kun will have to do for now."

"Vessel." Naruto stated the word. Not in confusion but realization. "So you came here to mark us as so you could take over one of our bodies. I assume that's what the seal on Sasuke's neck indicates. Then that also means you put a bit of your chakra in it as well. Otherwise that seal is useless and you can't take over the body."

"My my. So inquisitive and knowledgeable about seals too. The last time I saw an Uchiha interested in Fuuinjutsu was none other than your father. Now he was a true shinobi. There is no doubt that if he lived through the war, he would've been considered among the people along with Minato to become the Fourth Hokage." Orochimaru added and Naruto couldn't help but smile a little at the words the Snake Sannin had said. His mother had told him that they were about four years older than the Fourth Hokage's batch but Minato was a unique shinobi even despite his young age. He also called Genjuro his senpai too. Even though Satsuki said that Genjuro hated it when someone called him senpai especially because it made him feel old. Genjuro Uchiha did not like to be called old.

"Even so. Your time is up." Naruto said as some incoming noises could be heard. "If I'm not wrong, then ANBU are already here along with the second proctor. Do you really want to take all us on? No doubt the battle will grab more attention, as jounin will rush to the scene and then even Sandaime-sama will be here. You don't want that to happen do you?"

"You're quite the smart one aren't you Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru said as he still had that sick smile on his face. "Using everything you have in your arsenal knowing you couldn't beat me but making sure that the delay would take a long time. And that nasty combination jutsu of yours was to grab attention here in case they didn't have a sensor with them. Kukukukuku. Too smart and powerful to be a genin. Even most chunnin can't think that far ahead. Makes me wonder what else you had planned."

"Not sure. Sometimes I feel like doing things in the spur of it all." Naruto said as he kept his eyes fixed on Orochimaru. He couldn't even afford to blink right now. His Sharingan was deactivated and he needed to rest his eyes. Long term time usage eventually renders blindness, but over usage in a single frame of time would render him having blurry vision that would take some time to heal. Right now he couldn't afford the risk. "Still, why should I tell you everything Orochimaru? Considering that you've been trying to harm me all day."

'Especially… when you have a little invasion planned with Suna…Kazekage-sama.' Naruto thought with an inward smirk as he looked at the face of the pale skinned Sannin.

'The wonders that Genjutsu can do.' Naruto stated as he groggily got up and looked at the Snake Sannin. The gash on his leg was going to be a major problem.

To those who are probably wondering what happened. Here is what happened when Orochimaru was trapped in the **Mangekyou Sharingan** enhanced genjutsu. When the Snake Sannin was trapped in the **Kurai Kouka,** it took an awful lot of chakra and time to dispel considering it fell in the **Magen** category. Two reasons really, one it was caused by a **Mangekyou Sharingan**. Naruto may not be as good as the prodigy Itachi Uchiha who decimated Orochimaru with a single genjutsu but his **Mangekyou** more than made up for it. Two. Why didn't Naruto attack Orochimaru sooner when he was trapped in the **Kouka Kurai**? Surely he could've attacked the rogue nin sooner and inflicted more injuries. Why did Naruto take so much time in attacking you after he finally dispelled the genjutsu?

Simple really once you consider the nature of the shinobi that Naruto Uchiha was.

While Orochimaru was trapped in the genjutsu of the **Kouka Kurai / Dark Descent,** Naruto had used another genjutsu while his **Mangekyou** was activated. This genjutsu was used to read Orochimaru's mind to some extent. While it was not near the famed clan jutsu of the Yamanaka, it did have its purposes and the jutsu enhancement of the **Mangekyou** certainly helped even more even though Naruto learned a small amount of knowledge.

Naruto had used **Magen: Chishiki Kiseichuu / Demonic Illusion: Knowledge Parasite** to learn the purpose behind his appearance in Konoha. He could do it with his Sharingan as well, as he had previously used it on one of the Demon Brothers when they went to Kiri. However, with the **Mangekyou Sharingan** it was quite the effective tool as Orochimaru was already busy trying to break the previous genjutsu, the second layer added only made it more difficult. While Naruto didn't get that much of intel from Orochimaru, he had gotten enough to know the severity of the situation.

Naruto had learned that Orochimaru had planned a full scale invasion on Konoha and that he was the real leader of Otogakure. The Village Hidden in the Sound was formed by him as he overthrew the Daimyo of Ta no Kuni to rename the land as Oto no Kuni. He had also killed the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa and was masquerading as him. The other reason he was here was because he needed a new vessel. He had been impressed by Itachi Uchiha from his young age and working in the organization in which the clan slayer was had involved an incident and only fuelled Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan even more. But this led to more threatening revelation that loomed on the horizon.

The Akatsuki.

Naruto couldn't go through all the memories. But he did get specific ones related to him coming here. The Akatsuki was apparently a group of ten S Ranked criminal nin who were working towards a specific goal. Firstly to gather funds, and secondly to capture all Nine Tailed Beasts that roamed in Kenso no Kuni. More specifically, the Jinchuuriki that binded the Bijuu in their bodies.

Orochimaru had also defected from that group about a few years ago. He couldn't get all the details about their members as Orochimaru had been starting to break free from the genjutsu by then. All he learned was their true goal and three of the members other than Orochimaru. The other three were Itachi Uchiha, Sasori of the Red Sands and Iwa's Mad Bomber Deidara.

Troublesome crew indeed. And there were at least six more people in that group who were no doubt monsters in their own rights.

This meant that Kasumi was a target of this organization. Naruto thought about his chances against more shinobi on the level of Orochimaru or even stronger than him considering that someone like Itachi wasn't even the leader. Naruto knows that right now Orochimaru can continue the battle and Naruto could not. His lack of experience and an influx of distraction is what led to the giant gash on his leg, he was essentially a cripple right now against Orochimaru in a battle. The only reason he is still alive is because both shinobi here know that it was only a matter of less than a few seconds before the ANBU Black Ops arrive here and try to capture Orochimaru. Konoha had kill or capture on sight orders when it came to Orochimaru. Then Orochimaru scoffed in annoyance as he too knew the shinobi were coming here.

"Stay safe Naruto-kun." Orochimaru said as he made more hand seals. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to a possible vessel of mine." He then slammed his hand on the ground before disappearing in a puff of smoke. All traces of his chakra disappeared as Naruto couldn't sense him anymore.

"Tch. Used a reverse summoning on slippery bastard." Naruto said as he sat down a bit and closed his eyes. The pain was still there. Extended usage of the **Mangekyou** for long periods of time, as in weeks to years does lead to eventual blindness. Naruto was glad that he still had a bit more time before he would go blind. But there was no need to risk his sight at the moment. The Chunnin Exams were still on despite the fact that there was an invasion hiding in the shadows of it all. Now that he knew there was a group of people after Kasumi he would need the **Eien Mangekyou Sharingan**. His mother's eyes were with him. It seemed that he would finally have to do that. Still, it was something he could live with. He would be seeing the world through his mother's eyes.

He was willing to do anything to make sure that Kasumi would remain unharmed, even if he has to sell his very soul. Naruto's musings were cut off as six shinobi arrive on scene. Anko Mitarashi was among them and the others were five ANBU. Anko immediately rushed to Naruto who looked worse for the wear. She then extended her palm on his leg as it glowed green and Naruto felt a soothing sensation on his thigh.

" **Iryo Ninjutsu**?" Naruto asked while raising an eyebrow. "Didn't know you used it Anko-san." Naruto was making random markings on the ground with his finger while he got healed slowly.

"I learned it because of my extended work on poisons. Now where is the Kusa kunoichi?" Anko asked and Naruto looked at her with a deadpan expression.

"You mean Orochimaru." Naruto said as Anko had a sweat drop on her head. She was mentally berating herself for looking like an idiot in front of the gaki. Anko then placed her palms on his back as Naruto felt a bit relieved at his fatigue being decreased. **The Shoshen no Jutsu / Mystic Palm Jutsu** was truly a technique worthy of its name. "He's gone. Used a reverse summoning to get out of this place just before you came. We need to talk to Hokage-sama about this later on."

"What do you mean later? You took on that snake pedo by yourself. You're in no condition to be here. Let's take you-" Anko was cut off as Naruto spoke once more.

"It's true I did fight Orochimaru. I didn't win, but I didn't lose either. Besides, my team is probably waiting for me." Naruto said as he stood up. The pain was there but he could function. Although no Sharingan for today. That was a definite. In fact, he didn't think he could fight for the rest of the day. He could only pray that no strong opponents decided to cross him today, otherwise he'd be fucked. "Well I'll see you later Anko-san." Naruto said as he ran off knowing full well that the snake summoner would chew him out later because of his 'lack of co-operation'.

"Damn that Chibi-kun." Anko said as she saw the raven haired enigma disappear from her view. She was honestly impressed with the kid. He had managed to fight Orochimaru to a stalemate, though in the end Orochimaru would probably come out on top. Anko knew from first hand experience that the Snake Sannin had too many aces in his slimy hole.

 **(AN: EWWWWW! What the fuck did I just write?!)**

"Should we let him go like that Anko-san?" one of the ANBU asked.

"Chibi-kun seems pretty stubborn when it comes to decision making. Besides, if he could hold back Orochimaru then he can pretty much destroy any genin in his path. Especially with that last jutsu that got us to notice him." Anko said.

"That was one of Genjuro Uchiha-san's jutsu was it not?" a brown haired ANBU op asked. "The fire that broke out I mean."

"Yes." Anko said. "Though it was a bit different. Remember we also saw some lightning flow out. Any ways lets go and… what the fuck is that supposed to be?" Anko said as she looked at the ground where Naruto had previously fiddled his fingers. There was something written there. The writing was clear.

'Kabuto Yakushi is a spy.'

What made the ANBU sweat drop and Anko say that particular phrase was the fact that there was a drawing of a chibi Naruto beside it giving them the peace sign. Honestly who does such a thing after giving them information like that?

* * *

A Few Clicks North, Deeper in the North Eastern Section, Forest of Death, Training Ground 44, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto sneezed as he ran through the Forest. His clone had dispelled a long time ago to relay the information of where he was. The influx of information was what caused him to get distracted for a moment and to be slashed by the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. Naruto had learned that the clone had successfully gotten the trio to the specific location and set up the **Ninshiki Shouheki / Recognition Barrier.** It was a Level Five Barrier Seal that didn't let anyone enter without the permission of the person whose blood it was set up with. Of course, if a shinobi was strong enough they could break the barrier but there was also one major drawback to this seal.

It consumed a fair amount of chakra. Sakura's blood had been used to set up the seal, as Kasumi's chakra control was fried at the moment and Sasuke was out cold. He only hoped that he could get there in time. he had learned from his clone that Kasumi had tried to get out of the barrier but couldn't because one Sakura stopped her and two Naruto's clone did as well, who got quite the verbal lashing from Kasumi as well.

Apparently she had threatened him with breadsticks. Naruto for his part did not even want to know what the fuck that meant. It would be scary though. Then Naruto finally saw it. A great tree at the corner and there was a large cavity inside it. It looked like a cave and for all intents and purposes it was now being used like one. He saw that Sasuke was on the ground as a wet napkin was over his forehead, indicating that he had contracted a fever. He was lying on a futon as Kasumi had two with her. Kasumi was impatiently waiting as she tried to walk up the wall inside the miniature cave. She was obviously trying to wall walk but failed as she fell down on the surface. Sakura helped her up.

"Kasumi you shouldn't do that. You know that as long as that weird seal that girl placed on you is there you can't use your chakra properly." Sakura said as Kasumi comically cried while shaking Sakura who had a large sweat drop on her head.

"After all that hard work to increase my chakra control. Its all gone. Because of that slithery, snake summoning, whore of a –" Kasumi would've continued but a groan of pain from Sasuke stopped her. The younger brother of Itachi was having a hard day too. The Cursed Seal on his body was taking its sweet time to adjust to the host.

"I've never seen the teme like this. Not even when we fought Haku." Kasumi said as she looked at Sasuke while Sakura adjusted the napkin on his forehead once more. Sakura for her part looked stricken.

"Sasuke-kun's fever isn't decreasing. If this keeps up then…" Sakura said as some tears were leaking out of her eyes. Then a sudden alarm of a noise grabbed the attention of both the kunoichi as they looked at the entrance. Sakura was happy that their teammate was back but Kasumi looked a bit shocked at his appearance. Even after the fight with Mangetsu he didn't look that tired. True he was standing on his two feet now but Kasumi could see it very well. His shins were shaking, his entire body had several wounds on them as a large gash could be seen on his leg.

Naruto Uchiha had returned and had a tire smile on his face. He slowly looked at the light blue barrier that was acting like a veil near the entrance and slowly walked through it.

"So," Naruto said as he sat down and his back was against the wall "I fought Orochimaru, a giant snake, four squads and one hell of a headache. How has your day been going?" Immediately Kasumi rushed up as her hair swayed and she hit him on the head as a comical bump appeared on his head.

* * *

Timeskip: Fifteen Minutes Later, Same Spot.

"So that's it in a nutshell." Naruto finished everything with that phrase. He had tactfully left out the part of the Akatsuki and his **Mangekyou Sharingan** knowing full well that some of this information would reach Sasuke's ear and he would throw one of his hissy fits about this situation.

"Orochimaru… I never would've believed it was him we fought." Sakura said. Her bookworm skills had made her know exactly who Orochimaru was. He was considered a prodigy shinobi whose skills remain nigh unrivalled. He was considered the strongest of the Densetsu no Sannin, though Naruto considered that Tsunade was the strongest of them.. physically that is. Sakura was also reeling from the fact that Orochimaru wanted to take over Sasuke's body. The Snake Sannin had also tried to take over Naruto's body but failed. This was when Sakura was wondering as to how strong Naruto really is. For a genin his skills seemed limitless at the moment, though he didn't gloat it. Sasuke was strong too, but Sakura knew that Naruto Uchiha was by far the most strongest shinobi of their generation. She was pretty sure that no one in the Chunnin Exams stood a chance against him.

"Naru, are they really planning an invasion?" Kasumi asked. It was expected of her. An invasion meant full out battles that would result in a lot of deaths. A full scale war, raging in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. So many casualties could result from such an incident. You really couldn't blame her. She had grown up in peaceful times along with Sakura. They didn't even know what horrors war could bring. And this invasion, if successful would no doubt lead to an incident that would involve other villages and war will eventually break out among the other nations as there would be a power vacuum left by the downfall of Konoha.

"Yes. Otogakure is here for that sole purpose. Orochimaru is already the _Kazekage_ and pretty much has Suna in his pockets. Even if we do tell them it would be pointless. They'd probably end up pointing fingers and shouting jutsu. I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen. Make sure you tell no one. Especially Sasuke. He is strong for his age, but his rashness can take the better of him sometimes. I get the feeling that the Curse Mark on him may act up sooner than we think and he might be corrupted by it as Orochimaru placed a bit of his own chakra in it." Naruto said as he lied down on the futon. "Sorry you guys but you're going to have to take first watch. I need to rest a bit before I can get up." Naruto said. He should not have put all his attention on Orochimaru. He should have also considered the fact that the Chunnin Exams were still going on. Then he felt a familiar feeling as he felt two soft lips kiss his forehead as Kasumi looked down at him with her violet eyes.

"It's alright Naru. Rest up a bit. You deserve it." Kasumi said as she smiled a bit. Poor girl didn't know that she had nine S Ranked Criminal shinobi after her. Naruto nodded and looked at Sakura before giving her a nod too. He then closed his eyes as he rested a bit. He needed this. The sooner he slept the sooner he could get up and protect his team. However, what Naruto did not know was that his fatigue was much more heavier than he had imagined as he drifted away to his state of unconsciousness.

* * *

 _Mindscape._

 _Naruto Uchiha stood alone on a battlefield. The battlefield was barren and deserted. No person was around other than him. Then Naruto saw something. A red moon. The moon co-incidentally had the shape of a Sharingan on it. Only it had ripples on it and had nine tomoe, three on each ripple line. Then Naruto saw a man standing there in the far off corner. He had brown spiky hair that was tamed and came down all the way to his back. He wore a white hakama and haori which had the design of nine magatama on the collars of it. He had a sword with him. His eyebrows were cut indicating royalty and had blue markings under his eyes. He looked like an Uchiha. More specifically he had some resemblances to Madara, but not exactly the same mirror image. More like a father or son resemblance._

 _However the most striking thing about him were his eyes._

 _Crimson orbs with three tomoe in them._

 _"Sharingan" Naruto said as the man looked at him._

 _"So you are my descendant." The man said as he got closer. Naruto couldn't breathe properly. The very air around the man seemed to be crushing him. This was power Naruto had never felt before. Naruto was doing his best not to drop on his knees from the severe killing intent that was projected into the air itself. The man stood near Naruto and looked down at him before he spoke again._

 _"How weak." The man said. "To think that offsprings from my line would be so weak and useless. Not to mention so short."_

 _Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the last one. He hated it when people talked about his height. Shisui would often call him the Legendary Short Uchiha when he was a kid. Now this guy was doing at as well._

 _"I'm fourteen you weird eyebrowed freak." Naruto said as he had picked up some habits from Kasumi. Needless to say the man was not amused._

 _"Hn." The man grunted with the Universal Uchiha Grunt. This guy was definitely an Uchiha alright. "To think you would also have no manners."_

 _"If you didn't have that stick up your ass I probably wouldn't do that." Naruto said defiantly. He looked around at the barren wasteland. "Where are we? Better yet who are you?"_

 _"I already told you that I am your ancestor. Though I am a bit ashamed to admit that my line would turn out to be like this." The man said. "And don't even get me started on the fact that you're mingling with Asura's descendant as well."_

 _"Now you're just being weird." Naruto said. "Who the hell are you? Tell me your name. I sure as hell would know someone from my family or if they're related to other Uchiha I know."_

 _"Ah yes. Uchiha that's what you call yourselves now. I do wonder how that little skirmish happened. The name of the Otsutsuki must've been forgotten by now." The man said._

 _"Otsutsuki?" Naruto said as he remembered the name of the legendary beings inscribed on the Uchiha Stone Tablet. Kaguya the Rabbit Goddess. Hagoromo the Sage of Six Paths. Rinnegan. All of that was real? Then that means. "You….. you're the older son of the Sage aren't you?"_

 _"Yes. I am Indra Otsutsuki. Elder son of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths. Rightful heir to lead the Ninshu and your prime ancestor. Child." Indra said as his eyes morphed into the three ellipses overlapping each other while a swirl was in the middle._

 _"Wow…..so you're the first one to manifest the Sharingan. The First Uchiha. Then that means…. That means…..you must have the biggest stick up your ass." Naruto said. He had read the Stone Tablet over and over again and had come to the conclusion that the older son was the prima donna of the generic Uchiha and he was right. The guy reeked of it like a Hyuuga reeked of pride._

 _"Foolish child. Know your betters." Indra said with great anger. How dare this youngling refer to him with such a term?_

 _"Yeah right. You're basically the guy who threw a hissy fit and fought his younger brother because daddy dearest didn't choose you." Naruto said as he looked at the prime ancestor of the Uchiha Clan. "The last thing I remember is falling asleep so this is obviously a dream. I'd like to wake up now."_

 _"This isn't a dream you foolish child." Indra said. "This is your mindscape. We are in the deep recesses of your mind. I am not even supposed to be here. I came here because I have a job for you. No. Not a job. A duty."_

 _"As if I'm listening to a guy who is a S Ranked Superiority cum Inferiority Complex patient. Speaking to a brick wall would be more reasonable." Naruto said not even wanting to look at the guy. Seriously how was this guy the son of the Sage of Six Paths. What a disappointment. Naruto began to walk away._

 _"Enough child." Indra said with all the authority his voice could muster and it did stop Naruto from walking away. "I realize that I may or may not have done things that has cursed my entire bloodline."_

 _"Damn right you did you jerk." Naruto said off handedly._

 _"It was because I was…. Persuaded by someone else. I realize now long after my death, that my father was right. I did rely on too much power. However, I still think it should've been me instead of Asura. After all I was the first born. And Asura, my adorable little brother was very dense and foolish. He couldn't tell a fly from a bee if you asked him." Indra said and Naruto merely looked at him._

 _"Get to the point." Naruto said and Indra got closer as he tapped Naruto's forehead. Naruto instead received an image in his head. An image of a grotesque being that was completely black and had yellow eyes, who could dissolve into the solid ground. "What was that?"_

 _"That was the person who manipulated me. He is the reason why my entire descendant line is curse. Be wary of this being if you ever see him. His name is Zetsu. Despite all the praise I received from my father and my followers of being hailed as a genius and whatnot, my mind couldn't contemplate to the amount of trickery and deception he had used against me. In the end I became nothing more than a pawn for him. And now my descendants suffer because of my rash decision. My job is done young one. I cannot stay here longer. I also gave you some of my chakra in addition to the one that already clings to you. You are my transcendant after all so you should be able to use some of the technique I used to. I am not as horrible as I seem as you yourself are a reflection of who I was or rather truly am. Do not fall to the hatred inside you Naruto Uchiha." Indra said as his body began to fade and the moon became white again._

 _"Wait where the hell are you going you bastard?" Naruto said as he tried to grab Indra but his hand phased right through him. "Hold on. I have some questions."_

 _"I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. I am merely an astral form. I died a long time ago. My descendants carried my hate. But… I leave it you child. I hope you can remedy us of the mistake I made out of jealousy and hatred. Redeem my line and I will be forever grateful to you." Indra said before he was slowly disappearing. "Also… don't mingle that much with my brother's descendant that much. Her foolish and cheerful nature may dull your skills. Though, I doubt you'll be able to stay away from her. After all I've never seen a boy that infatuated with a girl before." He said with a smirk that reeked of Uchihaness._

 _"Shut up." Naruto said as he had some red in his cheeks as he watched Indra slowly disappearing._

 _"Listen to my words closely child. He who knows how to love must also bear the risk of hatred. You have that hatred in you as well. Don't make the same mistake I and your predecessor made. But remember these eyes that we have are our pride never forget who you are. It is proof we are the sons of the Sage." Indra said before he finally disappeared. "It's up to you now Naruto Uchiha."_

 _"Well that happened." Naruto said. "Looks like he realized his mistake too late. Stupid ancestor leaving me his burdens." Naruto said as he himself felt a pull and then-_

* * *

The Next Day, The Cavern, North East Section, The Forest of Death, Training Ground 44, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto shot up from his bed as he saw the scene before him. Sasuke Uchiha was up and about as he had black flame like markings on the left side of his face. Kasumi was currently fighting a kunoichi as Sakura was sitting on the ground as Sasuke was twisting the arms of a Oto nin, the same one who had beaten Kabuto. Naruto felt his body sore but felt a bit better. Naruto got up slowly and saw that Sakura was now hugging Sasuke from behind and had managed to make him let go of the Oto nin. The mummified one then went their final partner, that was the Kunoichi as she had been fighting Kasumi. He then threw a 'Heaven' scroll at them as a sign of their defeat.

"OK" Naruto said as all three genin of his team looked at him but Sasuke no longer had the flame marks on his face while Kasumi was rushing at him and hugged him as he choked for air. He got some but then a familiar set of lips crashed onto his and he too kissed back. Sasuke and Sakura were smart enough to look away. The whole wounded warrior thing was kind of steamy to them and the way Naruto had grabbed her by the waist was quite provocative.

"You know…. I could… always…. Get used to this." Naruto said in between kisses as the two finally stopped and their foreheads were connected. "Okay then. Now that we're done with the important stuff. Can someone please tell me what just happened before I woke up?" Naruto asked as all three genin sighed.

"It's a long story" Sakura said as she picked up the 'Heaven' scroll. "Can you move?"

"Yeah. Though I could use some food." Naruto said as he saw the fried fish, now cold. He picked it up and chewed on it as they moved. He turned around to look at the Forest around them and yelled out, "You guys suck at suppressing your chakra you know!" Groans of annoyance came from different parts of the trees and bushes surrounding the areas while a muffled yell came as well, but Naruto clearly heard the word 'youth' being said.

He then looked at Sasuke as noticed the seal on his neck. Kasumi then spoke up.

"Naru stop looking at Sasuke's hickey." Kasumi said and Sasuke stumbled a bit.

"Alright though I gotta ask. Say Sasuke."

"What?" Sasuke said clearly not annoyed by the situation at all. I mean kami forbid people don't try to nose in with them.

"Did you like it when that kunoichi gave you the bite?" Naruto asked. Sasuke looked annoyed at the question as his eyebrows twitched.

"Well just so you know… if you did like it there is something wrong with you." Naruto said.

"Why is that?" Sasuke asked not liking where this was going at all. "Tell me."

"Well how do I put this?… umm" Naruto said while trying not to burst the bubble.

"Naruto I think it would be better if you didn't tell him about the _kunoichi_." Sakura said fearing what would happen if Sasuke did say yes. She just couldn't picture something like that.

"Alright what's the big deal tell me?" Sasuke said. "I am an Uchiha. I think I can deal with something that concerns that woman."

"That's the thing teme." Kasumi said as she happily chirped. "That woman was really a guy…. A guy over fifty years old. Who called you Sasuke-kun…. Who bit you… on your neck….Intimately."

The three genin were walking. Naruto, Sakura and Kasumi were walking past Sasuke. Naruto sighed, Sakura looked sad while Kasumi was ecstatic, then a large yell came from behind them.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 **NOTE: If you read it before you know for a fact that a huge change has been made.**

 **And that's it for this chapter.**

 **I hope you guys realize how strong Naruto truly is. Yes, people Naruto has the Kamui. He will be able to use the Kamui along with the Enton which he naturally will have due to his high fire affinity. As you can see Naruto at the moment is as strong as Sasuke was during the beginning of Shippuden before he absorbed Orochimaru. And we all know that is pretty strong. So yeah, his greatest weakness is his inexperience. As for the whole Indra thing well I kind of felt like doing that. Clearing the whole situation will help out more plus I think Indra himself needed some closure, even Madara got it as he died. Remember Naruto already has some of Indra's chakra due to being his transmigrant. Now he has a bit more but don't worry. He won't be OP as shit yet. I am going to change a lot of things from the canon now. You may or may not like it, but that is the way I have planned it out.**

 **I hope you liked the fight and the way it was done. I didn't want to make it too one sided and I have shown that Orochimaru could beat Naruto, he was a bit unlucky that's all and the fact that the first time of Kamui had decreased his reserves due to him now knowing how it works properly. Please don't ask me questions about the plot. You will know it when you read after I publish it. If you have confusions about the plot then you can ask me but don't ask me about what will happen next.**

 **Well anyways, I hope you guys liked the chapter. I had promised that chapters would be longer, so there it is 10000 words of fiction, and I skipped the parts that would go same as the canon. As you've noticed that I've upped the humor a bit to even things out. Anyways, that's enough ranting from me. Hit that follow and favorite button if you think this chapter was worth the wait. Expect the new chapter to be publish in the first week of the next month. I will also be uploading a schedule of my publishing routine on my profile. Make sure you check it out if you don't want to read the New Year Plan Announcement, though I hope you do. That chapter was basically a love letter to the fanfiction ideology.**

 **PS: I have decided not to make Asuma paired with Anko because you guys are insistent on it and I realized my mistake. But who to pair Anko with? I'll figure that out as I go along. But probably no Iruka… That card has been played.**

 **Oh and make sure you guys review. Trust me you have no idea how happy we get when you leave your opinions. When I saw that 'How to Screw with History' already got 80 reviews for one chapter I was like "yes I am doing the right thing."**

 **So make sure to review even if you are a guest, they are fuel for us.**

 **Anyways see you guys next week on "The Shinobi Mage" that will be updated within the fourteenth and finally I HAVE AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION WITH YOU ALL**

 **I have recently conjured an idea in my head about a Naruto and Bleach Crossover. Don't worry the original routine won't be disrupted because of it. I will put up a poll that will list 'till the 12th of January. If you guys say yes then I will publish if no, well fuck it. Make sure you go to my profile and vote. Mind you that fanfic will have an irregular update time as it will be on a one month / two month update schedule. Don't worry though it will be good. I promise that much.**

 **So eat good food, have plenty of fresh air, go out and live a little instead of sitting in front of the screen. If you are take hourly breaks and rest your eyes trust me it helps you. Finally take care people, Ja ne. XD !**


	18. The New Initiative and Preliminaries

**Hey there everyone, Rifat Alam back with the new chapter of the Uchiha Prodigy. If you guys have read the last chapter then you know that I had re-edited the last chapter and made the whole 'telling Orochimaru I know your plans' not happen as Naruto only knows it and thought it in his mind. If you don't believe me then go back and read it. Yes, I know that was a stupid move on my part in the first place, but hey problem solved. As you saw, I made Indra interfere with young Naruto's mind and give him the redemption he deserved at the end of his life. A lot of you may not agree with me, but if you did watch the fillers you know he deserved it. Also, I can see positive reactions from all of you about Naruto's skill level. Right now he is at Sasuke's level in the beginning of Shippuden without the Curse Mark influence. However when the Mangekyou comes in play, that is a gambling situation. It could be good or bad. I am not telling you that.**

 **And I have been getting constant reviews over how "Naruto and Kasumi are twelve they shouldn't even be thinking about this stuff let alone making out"**

 **…..….**

 ***sigh***

 **Makes me sad when I read it because this means that those who wrote such stuff haven't read the previous chapters or didn't really care to read it properly**

 **I quite clearly wrote that the graduating age for genin has been pushed to fourteen, seems to make more sense than sending out twelve year olds out of the Academy. If you're still not going read the previous chapters (which makes me sad) then let me clarify the reasons.**

 **1\. It is peace time right now, so everyone is a bit slack.**

 **2\. Ever since the Uchiha Clan Massacre, people have assumed that Itachi cracked under the pressure of being such a successful and ruthless shinobi at a young age. That is why the graduating age has been pushed to fourteen instead of twelve.**

 **Oh and one more thing, a new situation has developed with the fourth week of every month so go to my profile to check it out. And for those of you complaining about why I am updating this story twice in one month. Here's what happened. I deleted the Author's Note chapter and the site showed that it was fucking updated.**

 **WHAT THE FUCK?! I didn't know that would happen! And believe me you won't believe the amount of hatemail I received. It almost made me want to abandon writing on altogether. Seriously did those flamers not notice how I deleted the AN Chapter? Could they not stop for a second and think 'Oh maybe its because a chapter was deleted that's why they're showing it's updated!'**

 **But noooooooo**

 **Flame first questions later!**

 **Oh and make sure you guys check out my profile for the routine. Kosei Shippuden is going to take more plot development so the update time for that has been increased to two months. So the next chapter for the Bleach Crossover will come out in March. Meanwhile, after a lot of requests and the fact I lost a bet, I will be publishing a Naruto + DXD Crossover story. Don't worry, it won't be too bad. I hope. It will follow the same Dimensional Gap route from "How Naruto Screwed With History"as the gap leads to many worlds.**

 **Anyways, where was I? Right the Uchiha Prodigy Chapter 18. So, I really don't feel like dragging this note on anymore so let's just go the disclaimer**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION.**

 **NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, STUDIO PIERROT, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO.**

 **PLEASE SUPPORT AND REVIEW THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Location: Tower, Forest Of Death, Training Ground 44, Konohagakure no Sato.

"Okay now what do we do?" Sakura asked as she and her team stood outside the Tower. The battle with Orochimaru had taken quite the toll on them. They had spent an entire day in the Forest of Death as both Naruto and Sasuke had to rest up and recover. In that frame the three shinobi from Otogakure had attacked them and were looking to kidnap both Sasuke and Naruto. While Sakura may not be the best genin kunoichi in the Elemental Nations and was a bona fide fan girl in her early stages, serious training with her team was starting to bring out the hidden talent within her and Kasumi Uzumaki served as a catalyst for her to train harder.

Again, she was a rough work in the progress, but one that was worth the training. When the Sound team had attacked them, the kunoichi had done her best in setting up intricate traps and even managed to hold back Kin Tsuchi of the that team while Kasumi, with great terrible chakra control courtesy of one pale skinned Sannin, was holding back the other two. Sasuke Uchiha had woken up in the middle of the fight and had black flame like tattoos spread across his face and went a bit psychotic at their presence. He even nearly broke one of the shinobi's arms, Zaku was his name I believe. He would've done too had Sakura not hugged him from behind and calmed his nerves down. After the Sound team saw that Naruto himself was awake at this point a fight was useless and they left a 'Heaven' scroll. After that they had left knowing the impending of a possible invasion of the Leaf Village hanging over their heads.

"I guess we should open both scrolls." Sasuke said. He still was reeling from the fatigue of the fight with the kunoichi, who turned out to be a man. Sasuke still shook at the idea of a man biting him in his neck while the man was referring to him as Sasuke-kun.

"Seems like the only way to go I guess." Kasumi said as she brought out the 'Earth Scroll' and Sakura opened the 'Heaven' scroll. Then the two scrolls were reacting to each other as the kanji letters on both scrolls lit up and a great puff of smoke surrounded the four genin. Then in front of them stood Iruka Umino in his usual chunnin outfit, as he looked at Team Seven. He had a smile on his face after watching students from the batch he taught appear in front of him in the second stage of the exam. They were the first ones to show up from Konoha. Of course, there was another team that had shown up but they were from the Sand Village, the Subaku Siblings. They arrived on the first day, and without a scratch. That was a freak show incident if anything.

"Iruka-sensei!" Kasumi chirped out. This was one of the few people who truly acknowledged Kasumi. Along with Suzume from the Academy, Iruka believed that Kasumi was rather a victim of circumstance. The guts and determination of the fourteen year old was admirable on a scale that Iruka truly believed one day she would indeed make Hokage. And her vast improvement ever since becoming a genin was nothing to scoff at either. Though, he believed that Naruto played a large part in her rapid ascension. "What are you doing here?" She asked a bit too happily.

"Well, that was the point of the scrolls. To see if you have both then we would receive the signal and **Shunshin** here." Iruka said with a smile on his face. "Well, have any of you figured out the meaning of the scrolls yet?" He asked enthusiastically and the genin immediately deadpanned seeing that familiar smile on his face.

'Oh no…. not another speech.' Kasumi thought.

'I thought it was over at the Academy.' Sakura thought to herself. ' **CHA! Why is this happening again?!'** Inner Sakura thought angrily.

'How is this supposed to make us stronger?' Sasuke thought with a scowl on his face.

'I have to inform Sandaime-sama about Orochimaru.' Naruto thought while keeping a blank face before the teacher. 'He could funnel the information properly without too many leaks being exposed. I wonder if Danzo had anything to do with this. If only I had more time to use **Chishiki Kiseichuu / Knowledge Parasite** a bit longer, then I could've found out why Danzo was even in his specific memories. And then there's what Indra said. Black Zetsu…. If I find that bastard, I'm going to ask no questions just death. That's all he'll get from me.' Naruto was wrung out of his thoughts as he heard Iruka mutter something about heaven and earth.

"…And that's why you need both scrolls." Iruka finished as none of his students decided to pay that much of an attention to his glorious speech, something the chunnin was oblivious to. "Well then go ahead and rest up. You guys deserve it." Iruka said as his once Academy students thanked him and were going inside the Tower.

* * *

The Tower, The Forest of Death, Training Ground 44, Konohagakure no Sato.

"Finally!" Kasumi said as it was followed with an exasperated sigh. She looked around the empty space she stood in. It was more like an assembly hallway. There were two rows above them as staircases lead to that place, seemed more like a place where people would stand by and observe. She and her team were now currently walking up the stairs where a familiar jounin uniform wearing, masked man reading an orange covered book while he was giggling. The man's lone eye then drifted off from his sacred and precious book towards the oncoming group of people who were all under his charge.

In blunt and brutal words, they looked like shit. Sakura was the only one who looked like she had been through a lesser amount of hell than the other three. The one who did look the worst however was Naruto Uchiha. Shirt and pant was torn from places, the wounds that were on him that looked like slash marks and were significantly fresh. But above all, Naruto had a blank and impassive look on his face, while his eyes were completely narrowed at the son of the White Fang. Kakashi Hatake was surprised to see Naruto in such a state. He knew that the only ones who would bother Naruto too much in the tournament were a handful of people. Neji Hyuga, Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee and probably Shino Aburame. Other than that, there was no one who could stand much of a chance against him. The damage on his body indicates a level of intricate and precise attacks. This only meant that someone of at least jounin level had taken on Naruto. Then there was the situation where he had seen ANBU Black Ops near the Forest itself when he entered. The situation was too eerie.

"Well," Kakashi said with an awfully convincing cheerful tone "looks like my genin team is the first one from Konoha to make it. Good job all of you."

"Come on Kakashi-sensei." Kasumi said with her ever present smile. "Who else but us were going to be the first ones to make it back?"

"The Sand team made it here first. And they came on the first day." Kakashi said and Kasumi instantly deflated. Sakura was consoling her while patting her on the back. Sasuke looked annoyed, merely because they had gone through a very shitty experience of a hellish battle in the forest that slowed them down by a significant amount of time. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was bitten on his neck by a man, nope nothing to do with it all. Naruto for his part was trying not to react in any way. Apparently, the red haired boy, Gaara, was the Yondaime Kazekage Rasa's son. He had perfect control over his sand, but that's not where it ended no. He was also an unstable Jinchuuriki, of Shukaku the Ichibi.

"In fact," Kakashi continued "they didn't have a single scratch on them. Arriving here in less than three hours since the second exams began."

"WHAT?!" Sasuke, Sakura and Kasumi yelled out. All three genin were dazed by this statement. Sure they may not have faced any tough opponents as Team Seven, but to make it out of the Forest of Death with no scratches seemed likely impossible. Especially for Kasumi, who had spent time here for survival training several times and each time something would get to her, even if it was a small scratch. Naruto for his part wasn't that surprised. The unstable Jinchuuriki had reactive sand around him that acted as a barrier, deflecting any and all attacks that came for him in an instant. That was going to be very hard to get around.

"You probably shouldn't ponder on it too much." Kakashi said as he began to read his holy orange book again. "Go and rest up, you're going to need it."

"Wait." Sasuke said. "Do we have to go out of the Forest all over again and rest up in our homes?" Sakura seemed a bit cringed towards the aspect of going through the forest again. Kasumi for her part was shaking her head not wanting to do anything with that damned forest again. Naruto this time reacted by having a tic mark on his forehead. He was tired and needed to speak to the Hokage, and he really did not feel like hanging around in the forest in case the snake wanted to try to bite him again.

"Of course not." Kakashi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "None of you are allowed to leave the Tower until all qualified participants have come to the tower. There are resting quarters here in the Tower and your team probably has one as well. Though, there is one problem." Kakashi said as he closed his book and put it in his pouch.

"What problem?" Sakura asked. Was there another test to go through to the resting quarters? If so well then, female fury would be unleashed.

"You see," Kakashi said before he took a pause, then he began again "every genin team in all the major villages always comprise of four, three genin and one jounin. However, since our mighty Team Seven comprises of five members one thing has to be adjusted about the quarters."

"What would that be?" Naruto asked speaking up for the first time. Suddenly Kakashi began giggling all of a sudden, and Naruto knew something perverse was coming up.

"You see," Kakashi said as he giggled some more. Honestly, aside from being a man who knew over a thousand jutsu, he sure enjoyed his textual porn and his perverse nature. Though he was not the most perverted man in the world the next statement made by him showed he was indeed one of them, "there are only three beds. So two of you will have to share one bed." He finished and immediately four genin had blushes on their faces.

'That pervert Kakashi.' Sasuke thought. 'No wonder he was giggling like a fan girl.'

'B-bed?! Will Sasuke-kun share it me?' Sakura thought with a blush and she looked at Sasuke, who reddened a bit after understanding the gaze Sakura was throwing at him.

'Well it's not like I can sleep without him.' Kasumi thought and the blush increased 'But I don't want Teme and Sakura seeing how we….cuddle.'

'Damn it….' Naruto thought as he looked away from the rest 'I don't want them seeing us in bed even though we're not having sex…..yet.'

"Now now." Kakashi said as he stopped his giggling as he put his hands on Naruto and Sasuke's heads. "Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei will give you some advice on what to do when-"

"Hey look its Princess Gale!" Naruto yelled all of a sudden while pointing a finger behind the one eyed jounin and Kakashi immediately looked towards the direction Naruto had pointed at. He looked around to see nothing.

"Wait a minute." Kakashi said as he turned around to see all his genin magically disappear. He sighed. "Kids these days. Don't know how to take some teasing."

* * *

Medical Ward, The Tower, Forest of Death, Training Ground 44.

Naruto Uchiha was standing in front of the medical ward with the rest of his genin team. As soon as Kakashi had turned around, Naruto grabbed on to his teammates and girlfriend to **Shunshin** the hell out of getting into a weird 'talk' with Kakashi of all people. Naruto sighed as he ended up somewhere convenient. He needed to get to the medical ward anyways, and this proved to be a blessing in the hiding. The four of them entered the ward and were respectfully being treated according to their wounds. However the real problem came when…

"How are you still conscious?" the nurse asked quite loudly as nearly everyone in the ward darted their eyes towards the source of said noise. The nurse was a woman in her mid twenties and had a dumbfounded look on her face.

"I'm…..persistent?" Naruto replied unsurely as he could feel another lecture coming from the woman. He was tuning out of course, not because of the woman explaining how dangerous it was but rather because of the fact that there was an invasion threatening to loom over Konoha. This village was his home and he was not going to accept the fact that he would be sitting around rather than trying to prevent it. Part of him, wanted to declare it out loud but, that would be a foolish mistake on his part and only more chaos would ensue. He was sure that the village had a plan in case something like that did happen. However, there would be casualties. Severe casualties, in large numbers, of both shinobi and civilians that would leave quite a gap in the population. Peace was a rare thing to have, however one could also say that peace was a terrible thing to have. Naruto remembers how Shisui often used to speak about how things were different when he was growing up. It was the time of the Third Great Ninja War. Hell, by the time he and Itachi were Naruto's age they were both ANBU and later Shisui became a jounin. Peace had decreased the overall quality of shinobi in this era. Naruto Uchiha was an exception, even more so than some of the older ninjas of his village. However he wasn't what a few shinobi were called.

War Deterrents.

Shinobi who were single handedly capable of thwarting off attacks and invasions by their lonesome. Konoha had Hiruzen Sarutobi at the moment, however other than that there were no other shinobi who could take on battalions of ninjas by himself or herself with the sheer confidence of coming out on top. Minato Namikaze was one of the most feared shinobi in the world because of his abilities as a 'War Deterrent', for it was not every day a single shinobi could take down a thousand Iwa jounin class shinobi by himself. Perhaps, Jiraiya of the Sannin could do that as well. However, Naruto was not sure if he ever saw or heard that Jiraiya was in the village. He was a Sannin and had exclusive travelling rights, he was not bound by the village and it's borders. He served Konoha by thwarting off threats from outside the Land of Fire. Genjuro and Satsuki were viewed as such shinobi as well, but alas both were dead. As for Shisui and Itachi, well two Sharingan wielders like them working together would've been an excellent deterrent.

'If only we had someone of that caliber. If Nii-san and Itachi-nii were here, Orochimaru wouldn't even dream of growing balls to even think about doing something like that.' Naruto thought. He then idly clenched the bed sheets of the bed was sitting on. He was cursing his inability to not be at the level he wanted to be. But, even he knew it would take some more time. His aim was to be a perfect shield for Konoha and protect it. He would protect it like his father, his mother, his grandfather, his brothers and so many others had. However, more than that he would protect someone else.

Kasumi Uzumaki was a gift to him. Something he cherished more than his own life, and then there was the threat of the Akatsuki.

'I can't stay and play 'ninja' anymore.' Naruto thought as he saw his teammates looking at him from a bit afar. His gaze was fixed upon one of them, the one person who mattered the most to him. The one person he would go against the village for. He wouldn't like, if it came down to it he would choose Kasumi in the blink of an eye. 'After this, I am going to train seriously again. I need to protect her at all costs.' Naruto finished his thoughts at the same time the nurse finished covering his upper torso with the bandages.

She had used her fair share of **Iryou Ninjutsu** to stop the bleeding and heal him. His leg was also patched up rather well. He smiled a bit seeing the bandage. Shisui often used to take him on trips in the Forest to train him. Just them in the green woods, while they trained and conducted survival exercises. Shisui was the biggest influence he had. And, many people did say that Naruto was his second coming. Of course, Naruto considered himself nowhere near his brother's level. He could cast genjutsu from far off distances and then sneak up on his enemies without them realizing how he got there in the first place. Naruto got up and flexed a bit before putting on his shirt, which was not originally his as it was provided by the

"Arigato Kiria-san." Naruto said as he bowed his head a little to the nurse who was muttering something about reckless shinobi. Soon enough his team came and they were playing twenty questions with him. Naruto for his part didn't reveal anything about his Mangekyou, but rather the facts that the person they fought was Orochimaru and that there was a planned invasion coming up from the combined efforts of both Sound and Sand. Sasuke for his part was relieved and seemed glad that he had lost against Orochimaru.

One of the reasons he did not mention his Mangekyou was that he did not want their public interactions to even mention that word, and two because of Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke had improved significantly over the last few days. Not just as a shinobi, but also his social skills were brushed up to the point where he didn't simply 'Hn' anymore at every interaction. However, there was still a murky air about him and Naruto for one did not want the Avenger Complex victim Sasuke Uchiha to know anything about his Mangekyou Sharingan. Even more so now because of the **Cursed Seal** on him, something like that could affect his mental condition as witnessed and recounted from the incident with the Sound Team. The third reason Danzo Shimura. As relaxed as Naruto may seem, he had always left extra clones around henged as several people to keep an extra eye on his real self and Kasumi if the man who according to Shisui was 'the Shinobi of Darkness' would make a move on them. It seemed that even after the Massacre, the Uchiha were suspicioned upon despite whatever they had contributed.

'No more.' Naruto thought. 'I won't let them brand us as traitors. Even if I have to show them that by force. Indra Otsutsuki, I think I'll take your words into consideration about ' Naruto thought.

"Naru!" Kasumi yelled and Naruto looked at her with disheveled eyes. "You were dazing off again."

"Gomen." Naruto said as he laughed a fake one. "I was thinking about the Exams. I mean what would happen if too many teams would make it through?"

"Probably a preliminary round." Sakura said as the other three genin of her team stared at her. "It would make sense once you think about it. Chunnin Exams always have been an unofficial way one village showing off against another. Too many competitors in the finals would bore some of the Daimyo representatives that come."

"I never thought of it that way. How did you come to that conclusion?" Sasuke asked and Sakura had a pink blush on her cheeks as her crush was actively asking her questions. Kasumi for her part smiled at this little incident, she was a good friend of Sakura's and had been trying to get her to break out of the whole 'Fan Girl' status. Surprisingly, Sakura was making good progress. No one grew strong overnight, even Kasumi knew that but Sakura had both the potential and the determination to do so. The fact that the 'Teme' was speaking to her without saying something that would piss our resident Jinchuuriki off only seemed like a progress in her books about the 'Teme'. Naruto for his part did give off a small smile.

'Miko-Obaa-chan, I hope you're watching this.' Naruto idly thought remembering the kind woman who was his aunt in all but blood. Naruto then spoke up after Sakura said she had read about this from a shinobi journal her dad had.

"We should probably go and eat something." Naruto said as all his teammates nodded and saw Kakashi coming in.

"Oh no. You guys go I'll try to stall him as much as I can." He didn't need to say it twice as all of them headed towards the other ward which surprisingly had a food section as well. Seems the Hokage had spared no expense when it came to these exams, other than the whole leaving the students in the Forest of Death plan. Naruto slowly walked towards Kakashi and had a serious expression on his face, a similar look that Kakashi had on his face as well.

"Of all the farces you could've put up Kakashi-nii," Naruto said as both of them were now walking out of the Medical Ward "you had to go with the one where you were going to give us 'The Talk'."

"Well," Kakashi said as he gave his iconic eye smile, a genuine no less "someone has to mess with my cute little genin. And if not me then who?"

"That's true I guess." Naruto said. Shisui had said that their sensei Hizashi Hyuga, who surprisingly was not a stuck up Hyuga who ranted on about pride and proper etiquettes all the time, often liked to put his genin team in rather uncomfortable situations. Naruto then looked Kakashi dead in the eye after his Sensory Perception assured him no one was around. "Have you been informed yet?"

"Not sure about what. But I did see a couple of ANBU hanging around the entrance of the Tower. That, and the fact that they were going into the Forest smelled off." Kakashi said and Naruto looked at him, the masked jounin realized that Naruto did not want to speak here so he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and **Shunshin** -ed away from the spot.

* * *

Secluded Spot within the Tower.

"Alright Naruto." Kakashi said as he looked at the main powerhouse genin of his team. No calling him a genin would be wrong, if anything Naruto was the co-sensei of his team, having 'threatened' the Copy Ninja that all his smut would become nothing but ashes if he did not take more active role in their training.. Kakashi Hatake himself had admitted that he was lazy, a bit too lazy over the years. He had also thrown away his chance at becoming a S Ranked Nin a long time ago and his skills had dropped. His grief and regrets had wallowed him in the last couple of years, and it was only recently he was beginning to come out of them. Naruto Uchiha served as a constant reminder of Obito and even now he was being uplifted by the younger brother of his formerly alive teammate.

"Orochimaru." Naruto said and the air around them became very thick. The tension in the air was palpable. "Orochimaru is here in Konoha. We encountered him in the Forest and were able to evade him somehow, though he was not looking to kill us. He branded Sasuke with his **Curse Seal**." Naruto said and Kakashi sighed, a sigh of great annoyance and frustration.

"Of all the people that had to come after your team." Kakashi said. "Did he manage to mark you or any of the others?" He asked with the most gravest of tones, having encountered many of the living experiments the Snake Sannin had made put a particular bad taste in Kakashi's mouth.

"He tried to mark me." Naruto said. "I managed to stall him long enough for reinforcements to arrive. I'm honestly a bit surprised that you weren't informed. Seems that Sandaime-sama, still has a soft spot for his traitorous student." Naruto finished with a rather harsh tone. The mental tolls of the fight with Orochimaru, the discovery of the organization Akatsuki and the encounter with the astral projection of his progenitor ancestor Indra Otsutsuki was starting to take place.

"Now Naruto," Kakashi said noting the sudden change in his demeanor "you really shouldn't speak about Hokage-sama like that. It's not like he had a choice."

"Maybe." Naruto said not particularly caring and this side of him was starting to make Kakashi feel a bit on edge. "Maybe not. Either way, he should've informed you about the fact that Orochimaru attacked us. Withdrawal of information like that will only cause whatever little teamwork and trust we have amongst ourselves to crumble."

Kakashi Hatake was now looking at Naruto with a wide eye. He always knew that Naruto held back in the Academy, his strength was above that of a chunnin and he had a fully matured Sharingan that was probably used better than Kakashi's. However, this personality of his which contrasted from his original kind and humble yet indifferent to that of the one he was seeing now. Sardonic, bitter and somewhat cold, but very good at restraining his emotions has his face was still nearly blank and completely devoid of any deductive emotions.

'Is this what he's truly like?' Kakashi thought as he looked at the younger brother of Obito and Shisui. 'Looks like I'm not even close to even figuring out what he thinks.'

"Don't look at me like that sensei." Naruto said as he was staring at Kakashi. "If you're considering me a flight risk, your banking on the wrong Uchiha." Naruto said not even caring at the moment whether if Kakashi was going to reprimand about him insinuating such a fact about his own clansmen and teammate. Naruto was tired of living of hiding behind the restrained mask. He needed to get stronger to protect Kasumi. He was sure that Konoha would protect her. Not because she was a shinobi of their village, no Konoha was far more deeper than that.

Naruto knew exactly how most of Konoha viewed her. A weapon as she was a Jinchuuriki, an Uzumaki wielding a **Kekkei Genkai** who could give birth to more potentially strong shinobi. That's how they viewed her and the last two Uchiha. Nothing more than breeding stock, after the 'Council' had tried to impose the Clan Restoration Act on them.

Naruto was pretty sure that though the Sandaime was somewhat of a decent human being the other three were not, if what his sensory skill picked up. Those two lecherous power seeking bastards known as Homura and Koharu were people Naruto could never appreciate.

And don't even get him started on Danzo, the sheer fact that he could feel a bit Shisui's chakra from him set him off along with multiple others coming from him. He was pretty sure that Danzo had a Sharingan under the bandages of his eye, it was a hunch but Naruto felt like that Danzo had one of Shisui's eyes. Yet, he couldn't do anything about it. They'd probably order his death like they had damned the Uchiha Clan to death without a single thought.

"We need to go and talk with Sandaime-sama." Naruto said while looking at Kakashi who was cut as Naruto had spoken up and then continued. "The sooner he learns about Orochimaru's plans the better chance we have off staving off an invasion."

"Invasion?" Kakashi asked in shock. Naruto nodded his head and Kakashi sighed once more. His hands were full now, he had even made plans to read Icha Icha all day, the newly re-edited ones. He put his hand on his student's shoulder once more as a whirl of leaves were in their stead.

* * *

Private Office, The Tower, The Forest of Death, Training Ground 44.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was officially having one of the worst metaphorical headaches of his life. Orochimaru, his most prized student at one time had returned to Konoha after more than a decade. The rogue nin had attacked Team Seven and from Anko's suggestion they were under the assumption that since they were alive, they had probably been marked with his trademark and malicious **Cursed Seal**. His student had already stooped low when he had begun his human experimentation program, and now he was probably looking to use one of the team members of the five man cell as a potential host. Sakura Haruno was out of the question as Orochimaru probably didn't deem her worthy. Kasumi Uzumaki was another impossibility as his student may have been a sick excuse of a human being, but not a foolish one by any means. He knew how risky it would be trying to make a Jinchuuriki a host, since there was already a large massive living chakra being inside her mind. The plan would only back fire as the Nine Tailed Fox would probably destroy any chance Orochimaru would have. That left only two options.

Sasuke Uchiha. The heir to the Main House, though that term had become irrelevant now. As of this moment, as it was decided by the Shinobi Council, there was no Main House or Branch House. Since there were only two of them left it was just the Uchiha Clan. Though, Sasuke was still seen the as the rightful heir as his father was the previous Clan Head the position itself was up for grabs amongst the two. Sasuke was a prodigy alright, he rightfully deserved the title of 'Rookie of the Year'. However, titles mean nothing on the battlefield, but he did prove his worth and was on his way to becoming one of the better shinobi of Konoha. His behavior on the other hand was a different matter. Recently from Kakashi's report it seemed that Sasuke was starting to get along with his teammates more and was a tad bit more social now. However, Sarutobi was no fool.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre was one of his three greatest failures. No matter how much of a justification the action itself received, he was more or less the reason the once founding clan of Konoha was all but extinct. True Danzo may have been the one who ordered Itachi to bring the curtain down on his clan but Sarutobi could've done something to stop his former teammate. What had he done in the aftermath? Nothing but a slap on the wrist for Danzo, who no doubt had been still active with his ROOT Program even now. But that hardest part was finding out where the new location was moved to. Quite the sneaky rat his 'friend' was. Because of that incident, Sasuke was considered a flight risk by the Hokage and the Elders. Ever since then, Sasuke had shown signs of an Avenger Complex. If this kept up he would end up going rogue.

And then there was the other Uchiha of Team Seven.

Naruto Uchiha.

The son of Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha, grandson of his old friend Kagami Uchiha. Brother of Obito Uchiha, who died in the Battle of the Kannabi Bridge, and Shisui Uchiha, the Teleporter of the Leaf. And one hell of a shinobi, if what Kakashi's reports had detailed. The first person to actually acquire a bell in the history of the Bell Test. He had a fully matured Sharingan by this age, though he had probably acquired it way beforehand. He hid his true power and skills at the Academy to such a great extent that it was almost non-believable on par with Kakashi's reports. He also fought Zabuza Momochi long enough for Kakashi to intervene. He defeated Mangetsu Hozuki, the Second Coming of the Demon, all by himself. And now, from the report he got from Anko and ANBU Squad Gamma, he had held off Orochimaru by himself long enough for the reinforcements to arrive. And a blank poker face that mirrored Itachi's.

The sheer potential and strength this young man displayed was terrifying to Hiruzen Sarutobi. Even he nor Kagami along with Danzo, weren't this strong when they were his age. They probably reached his level when they were about sixteen. Sarutobi pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought about the blue eyed enigma. He was also considered a flight risk by Sarutobi and the Elders, all kindness aside at the end of the day he was the Hokage. But, Sarutobi trusted Naruto more despite the fact that he had hidden the fact he had awakened the Sharingan, a fully mature one too. Like his family before him, Naruto also held a loyalty towards the village but he held his loyalty towards more towards one person more.

Kasumi Uzumaki.

What Sarutobi had thought would be nothing more than a few slight crush feeling relationship had changed drastically. They were more like young married couple. Sarutobi also felt sad as he thought about Kasumi and looked down on the ground. Not only was she a member of the famed Uzumaki Clan, whose seals still guard the village to this day, but also the daughter of his successor. He had failed Minato and Kushina. Their last request was that the village see their daughter as a hero. Sarutobi had been a fool to trust the common people and shinobi alike. The hatred that stemmed from the Kyuubi's attack was still present today. It started out with Kasumi getting kicked out of the orphanage at seven, Sarutobi got her an apartment and paid the rent with her parents' money. But the problem did not stop there, the people of Konoha had dared to publicly verbal lash her and even at times assaulted her. This continued till she was nine, and miraculously it stopped. To this day, he does not know why. Then came Naruto Uchiha into her life. Allowing her to stay with him was an act of redemption for him.

Sarutobi sighed as he was preparing to smoke on his classical pipe, a friend he had for more than thirty years. He was about to lit it, but there was a rapping on the door of his temporary office and he stopped. He also had to tell Kakashi about the Orochimaru incident. He called out to whoever was behind the door.

"Come in." Sarutobi said and saw the two people enter. One of them was the person he was about to inform regarding the incident with Orochimaru and the other one was the person who was directly involved in the previous incident. Naruto then slowly closed the door as the click noise was heard. He had that blank look on his face once more, but having worked with Itachi for so long did have some perks. If Hiruzen Sarutobi was not wrong, then Naruto probably wanted to talk about something.

"Sit down, both of you." Sarutobi said as his eyes had had darted off at the two empty chairs as they were now occupied. Kakashi looked a bit shaken and as for Naruto he looked bored, yet there was something going on in those eyes of his. "I assume that Naruto has told you of the incident in the Forest already?"

"Hai Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied. "If I may ask, why wasn't I informed about this?"

"We were still making sure whether or not Orochimaru was in the Forest." Sarutobi said and finally took a puff out of his pipe. "I was going to inform and call you out, but you so aptly appeared and saved me the effort."

"I see. Are the Exams going to be cancelled then? Surely you don't intend to let things go on with him now in the village." Kakashi said and Naruto for his part closed his eyes. He was thinking about how to play this out.

"I can't do that. It almost feels like Orochimaru wants us to cancel the exam, so he can trigger another incident." Sarutobi said and saw that Naruto opened his eyes. "Naruto-kun could you tell me exactly what happened in the Forest?"

"Very well then." Naruto said after making sure that no one was listening in on them from any corner. "At first our team split up. Since I can handle most genin, I decided to go out and look for the 'Heaven' Scroll while the other three would function as a cell. The original plan was that they would flare their chakra the moment they would acquire a scroll. But, Kasumi actively started using the Kyuubi's chakra and I rushed there knowing something major would've happened. I arrived to see a Kusa kunoichi beating up Sasuke and Kasumi. She would've killed Kasumi too had it not been for Sakura's interference. I then stalled Orochimaru long enough for the reinforcements along with Anko-san to appear." Naruto finished and both shinobi mentally noted how he had left out all the parts regarding his battle capacities.

"I see. Is there something else worthy of note?" Sarutobi asked and Naruto nodded.

"Yes. Firstly, from what Kasumi said she cannot control her chakra properly ever since Orochimaru placed a seal on her. I believe it's the **Gogyou Fuuin / Five Element Seal** as Kasumi said that five kanji symbols with purple flame like hues had appeared over his fingers. I didn't bother to remove it as it's a Level Six Seal, something I haven't finished yet. If you or someone else could remove it Hokage-sama it would be very good." Naruto finished and Kakashi was looking rather proud. Well, you'd have to be if a student from your team beat someone like Mangetsu Hozuki and hold off a Sannin like that.

But it still felt like there was more Naruto wanted to say as had started with 'Firstly.'

"What else is there you want to say Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi said and Naruto sighed before he could speak.

"Sasuke has been tagged with Orochimaru's **Curse Seal**. He even channeled some of its power during a fight with the team from Otogakure. He did fight it off after Sakura intervened, but just to be safe you should seal it off and keep an eye on him." Naruto said.

"And Orochimaru didn't put the **Curse Seal** you?" Sarutobi asked with a raised brow. This was highly irregular of Orochimaru, by all rights and logic Naruto should've been his primary target.

"He tried, I managed to evade him. And now before I go any further I need to be sure that no one else is listening to us. Do you have a location that we could talk freely Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked and Sarutobi was nothing but impressed. The air with which he carried himself was highly calculated. Naruto did not want to leave any room for errors. Hiruzen then made some hand seals and slammed his hand into the ground. Seals appeared all around the room and Naruto whistled at the actions.

" **Privacy** and **Silencing Seals**." Naruto said with a smile and Kakashi was thinking something else. This was one of the last three quarter stages of Level Six Fuuinjutsu, something he couldn't yet master due to his training schedule changing.

'Show off.' Kakashi thought.

"Now that we know no one is listening, please continue Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said and Naruto nodded.

"Firstly, Kabuto Yakushi is a spy. You were probably informed of that right Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked and a got a slight nod from Sarutobi. "At first I found it hard to believe that someone like him could fail the Chunnin Exams more than three times. I concluded he was a hefty risk and decided to stay away from him. Then, during my encounter with Orochimaru I used a double layer genjutsu on him that took away most of my chakra but I was able to get some information out of him." Naruto paused and was going to continue but Hiruzen spoke up.

"Wait, you extracted information from Orochimaru's mind with a genjutsu?" Sarutobi asked with his eyes being a bit wide. Kakashi for his part looked at Naruto, not showing the obvious surprise.

"It's not perfect and the tougher the opponent the riskier it's usage becomes." Naruto said trying to downplay the effect of the genjutsu.

"I see what is it called?" Sarutobi asked.

"It's a family genjutsu associated with the **Magen / Demonic Illusion** category. This particular genjutsu is called **Chishiki Kiseichuu** / **Knowledge Parasite**. It has a limited time frame and can extract only recent information. However, the chakra usage is high and the illusion itself becomes unstable unless another high level genjutsu isn't used as the first layer." Naruto said.

"I see was the first layer of the genjutsu **Kurai Kouka / Dark Descent**?" Sarutobi asked and Naruto for his part could only widen his eyes as Sarutobi smiled at the young genin. "Don't be so surprised Naruto-kun. That particular genjutsu was made by your grandfather. Do you think he didn't use it on me?" He asked with a chuckle.

'The old man is terrifying. Makes me wonder what Kagami-ojii-san was like.' Naruto thought in his mind.

'I feel left out.' Kakashi thought in his mind. Though, **Kurai Kouka** was something Kakashi had often heard of from Obito when they were genin, apparently it was a nightmarish genjutsu Kagami Uchiha had created during the First Great Ninja War. He sighed in relief that Naruto didn't threaten him with that.

"Moving on." Naruto said. "The reason why Orochimaru is here has two main goals. One, he needs a new body. It seems that he chose an Uchiha as his vessel this time. At first he went after Sasuke and then concluded that he would go after me as well." Naruto said. "The other reason is, Orochimaru has an invasion planned."

Silence echoed throughout the room as the other people present in the room reeled in from the statement Naruto just said.

"I know this maybe hard to believe but it's true. **Knowledge Parasite** did help in getting this info. Otogakure is Orochimaru's village. He usurped power from the Daimyo of Ta no Kuni and renamed it Oto no Kuni. Also, Sunagakure is playing a large role in this invasion." Naruto said.

"Suna is an ally. I don't know how Rasa would even agree to something like that." Sarutobi said.

"You're correct Hokage-sama. Rasa-sama would've never agreed to such a thing…..if he were alive that is." Naruto said and both shinobi shook their head as they realized the situation. "Orochimaru is now masquerading as the Kazekage. They probably don't even know that Orochimaru is pulling the strings right now." Naruto said.

"And they probably wouldn't even believe us if we told them." Kakashi hypothesized. "They'd probably think of it as an underhanded tactic by us."

"Indeed. Suna is generally considered the weakest of the Great Five Villages. They had everything to gain if the Invasion was a success." Sarutobi said and both Konoha shinobi noted that their leader had used the past term, signifying as if they had already failed.

"What? You honestly don't think that I can't counter act their plans. I may be old, but I am not senile. If Orochimaru thinks he can come here and bring harm to the village I grew up in and get away, well I'll just have to remind him why I was his sensei." Sarutobi finished and Naruto for the first time felt the complete authority and power that the veteran of three wars had. He couldn't help but smile a bit at the Hokage's words. But the next piece of information was also important.

"Hokage-sama." Naruto said and Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him with grave eyes. "The Yondaime Kazekage's son Gaara…. Is the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi." Kakashi merely face palmed after hearing that, while Hiruzen did something else.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Hiruzen Sarutobi openly cursed in front of both shinobi. He got up and pinched the bridge of his nose out of frustration. "Seems like Orochimaru went very far in his plans. I can only assume that he wants to kill me on the day of the finals. We'll have to plan around that. Does Orochimaru know that you found out about his plans?" Sarutobi asked.

"To my knowledge no." Naruto replied. "But more importantly we can't let him know that we are aware of his plans. He's also planning a mass sleep induced genjutsu." Naruto said.

"Very well then. Thank you for bringing us this information Naruto-kun. Kakashi what do you think? Surely he has displayed all the qualities of a chunnin already hasn't he?" Sarutobi asked to Kakashi.

"Indeed he has Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied with his iconic eye smile. "A chunnin already and you didn't even have to make it to the finals." He finished.

"Wait what?" Naruto asked not really sure how this conversation was going.

Then Sarutobi chuckled as he sat down and pulled one of the drawers of the desk in this room. He pulled out a scroll and unsealed it to reveal a Chunnin flak jacket. The difference between this one and Kakashi's currently wearing one was, the unsealed flak jacket was a bit brighter than the masked jounin's darker olive green colored one. Naruto realized what had happened and was a bit taken aback. He had heard of on field promotion before but didn't know it would happen to him like this.

"Chunnin Naruto Uchiha, you are hereby promoted to the rank and your first mission as Chunnin is to keep taking part in this Chunnin Exam and keep this farce up. You will also keep an eye out on the Sand Siblings as well as Sasuke Uchiha. Should he display any rogue nin natured behavior you are excused to bind and keep him restrained by whatever methods you deem necessary." Sarutobi said and Naruto nodded.

Kakashi nodded as well. True he had seen a bit of the cold persona that Naruto always suppressed by it seemed that Naruto would not betray any of his comrades.

"Hokage-sama what happens now? I mean in the Exams." Naruto asked.

"Well if too many teams make it, we will need to have a preliminary before the Finals." Sarutobi said. "I was also going to give an option for those who want to back out available. But now I am not." Sarutobi said.

"Why is that Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"Kabuto Yakushi." Sarutobi said. "The fact that he is a spy checks out with his previous exam incidents. He always backed out before the Finals. He will probably do the same again. But I want to test something." Sarutobi said.

"What would that be Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked.

"Tell me Naruto-kun, have you ever heard of tournaments being rigged?" Sarutobi asked

* * *

Timeskip: One Hour Later, Team Seven Resting Quarters, The Tower, Forest of Death, Training Ground 44.

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

"Geez calm down." Kasumi said in a hushed voice as she got out of the bathroom. She had previously seen Sasuke and Sakura fall asleep and really did not want them to get up. Her team was resting up as much as they could. Sakura for her part didn't want to go to sleep but Kasumi insisted. Sasuke didn't complain, he wanted to rest. Both genin were separately sleeping in their individual beds. She knew that in the end she'd end up sleeping in the same bed as Naruto. To her, that was the most natural thing in the world. She didn't say it loud, but she always felt safe and peaceful whenever he wrapped his arms around her frame. Nothing could happen to her there.

She put her hand on the knob and turned it slowly. The resounding click noise came as the door was opened and she saw three people standing there.

Hiruzen Sarutobi or as he liked to call 'Jiji' was there in his usual Hokage Robes and the hat she had often asked him to hand over to her, in her mind she was ready to be Hokage already and wanted to help her grandfather in all but blood by taking the burden off his shoulders. Her first plan of the day when she became Hokage would be making ramen the national food of Konoha. Ah yes, life would be good for ramen lovers in Konoha if she truly earned that hat one day.

The next was their sensei or in Naruto's case pseudo older brother. It was only after the Wave Mission, that Naruto revealed to Kasumi that he knew Kakashi beforehand. The left socket that contained his Sharingan once belonged to his eldest brother Obito Uchiha, who had died under a boulder but had given him his eye as a dying gift. Recently, Kakashi was teaching them properly too, after a few not so discreet threats. All in all, he was a good person, but he could use better excuses in her opinion.

And finally, the last person of the group was the same person that had become an important part of her life. Naruto Uchiha stood there. She looked closely and saw that the serious expression on his face that she had seen was gone for the moment, also there were some traces of food crumbs around his lips, meaning that he had probably had a meal. At first, Kasumi did not want to eat without Naruto but after a great loud rumble from the three genins' stomachs they couldn't help but oblige themselves. He was smiling lightly and Kasumi knew it was a genuine one.

"Kasumi-chan." Hiruzen spoke up albeit lightly as he had seen the other genin sleeping. "I heard from Naruto that you've been having some trouble controlling your chakra."

"Hai Jiji." She said in her usual bubbly voice "That stupid long tongued teme slammed his hand on my stomach and my entire chakra control got shot." Kasumi said with a bit of an irritated tone. She then looked at Naruto who was shaking his head at her informal behavior towards the Professor.

"Hehehe." Hiruzen chuckled at her description of Orochimaru. Naruto had told him that his team knew about Orochimaru and the Invasion, also the fact that he had told them to not tell anyone else about. "Don't worry Kasumi-chan. Naruto-kun told me about it and I can fix the seal for you." No sooner had he finished, Kasumi beamed up and was going to say something but Naruto immediately went near her and put his hand over her mouth.

"If we could take this someplace else Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a deadpan expression. He also didn't want his teammates to wake up. Hiruzen nodded and started to walk out. Kasumi and Naruto followed suite, but saw that Kakashi was staying behind. Somone needed to keep guard over Sasuke, especially since the **Juin / Cursed Seal** could act up, and two Orochimaru may or may not make a move on Sasuke. He was a slithery snake for a reason. Naruto did feel guilty about keeping Kasumi in the dark about this, but sometimes people often do things…things that could be considered grave crimes in the views of others to protect their loved ones.

"So where are we going Naru?" Kasumi asked as her arm wrapped around his and her head leaned on his shoulder. Naruto was grasping her hand in his, as their fingers were interlocked with each other. She was giving him a clueless look as her deep violet eyes widened, making her look all the more adorable in his eyes.

"To Hokage-sama's office. Undoing the seal in a more quiet place is suite, since you might lash out in pain." Naruto said and Kasumi winced a bit. "Don't worry it's not going to be that painful. It's probably like getting your blood taken from a needle." Kasumi seemed to shiver in fear comically.

"But I don't like needles. They prick your skin, suck your blood…" Kasumi kept going on in a plitter platter of more nonsensical fear of needles. Naruto tried to calm her down, the keyword being _tried_. In the end it took the bribery of all you can eat at Ichiraku's to calm her down, Naruto could already feel his walled getting lighter. He prayed their children would not develop a fascination towards the starch based food. If it was pocky, well that was a different case. Naruto didn't even notice how his lips had twitched upwards at the thought of him having a family with Kasumi.

"Come on in then." Sarutobi said and the two entered the moderately sized office of the Hokage. He closed the door and activated the **Silencing Seals** once more. He then turned towards Kasumi and spoke to her. "Kasumi-chan I need you to lift your shirt and mold chakra as much as you can." Hiruzen said and Kasumi was a bit red as she nodded. Naruto for his part never really had seen her belly before.

Was it strange that they slept in the same bed yet didn't know what the other looked like completely naked?

Of course not, some people may think otherwise but Naruto was well versed in controlling himself. Then she slowly unzipped her jacket and lifted the mesh shirt underneath, to reveal a toned smooth belly that Naruto was really having a hard time not to look at, but not only did he take a look at that but also the seal that was on her stomach. So intricately detailed, all the arrays were in perfect alignment. Never had Naruto seen such a beautiful and deadly seal.

'Looks like Yondaime-sama took no risk in making this. The amount of details and the sheer alignment of the arrays in this seal are probably enough to hold two Bijuu inside.' Naruto thought as he stared at the **Eight Trigrams Seal** in awe. Hiruzen Sarutobi then cocked back his hand as his fingers spread apart.

Then five blue colored kanji symbols appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's fingers each one representing one of the five base elements as he slammed it into the seal over the original and Kasumi jumped back in pain while Naruto caught her from behind. She was clutching her stomach a bit and then the pain stopped as she was sitting on Naruto's lap who was currently sitting on the ground.

"There done." Hiruzen said. "You should be able to use your chakra more properly now Kasumi-chan." He finished and Kasumi immediately beamed up as she ran towards the wall and was jumping up and down on it. Hiruzen for his part couldn't help but chuckle at Kasumi's behavior. "Well I guess you two should get going now. Make sure you rest up well." Hiruzen said as he saw the two bid their farewells for now as he sat down alone on the chair. His hands leaned on the desk as he thought how in a month, nearly everything would change.

'I only hope things work out in the end we want to.' Sarutobi thought.

* * *

Team Seven Resting Quarters.

"Go on then. Lie down, I'm going to go freshen up a bit." Naruto said as Kasumi sat down on the bed. Naruto went into the washroom and was freshening himself up. A new set of burdens had been placed on to him. He was already made a chunnin before the exams ended. Now he had a more important duty than the rest of the genin. He would have to play a part in fending off the Invasion. On top of that, Kasumi's life was in danger. She needed to get strong quickly as well. Naruto knew he was strong, but if she could get stronger in a short of amount of time. The chances of their success would increase. He…he couldn't lose her. She was worth the world to him, if he had to give up his chance at going to heaven or whatever there is after life ends he would do so willingly. If Sakura didn't make it in time, then Kasumi would've been stabbed by that kunai, lethal cut or not. Naruto knew he couldn't win against someone like Orochimaru….not right now. The fact that there were eight or nine more criminals like him in the Akatsuki didn't make his life any easier.

He washed his face and hair as it looked a bit tame now. His hair was quite big now, almost coming down to his nape. He brushed back his hair significantly until all of it was pushed back. He looked at himself and shook his head. He then got out of the washroom and saw that Kasumi was still sitting in the same he had left her. He sat down beside her and both were leaning on each other as their hands were interwined. He was fondling her hand with both of his and brought it up to kiss it. Kasumi looked at him while her head was still one his shoulder.  
"What's wrong Naru?" Kasumi asked as she looked at Naruto with her violet orbs. She didn't get an answer as Naruto leaned his head forward and captured her lips with his own. She closed her eyes and simply melted into the kiss. He was licking her lower lip as she did her role as well. Then their tongues slowly caressed each other and both pulled back. Naruto was caressing her cheeks as some pink was dusted on her cheeks. He pulled her close as his forehead was on hers. He spoke ever so softly.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said as he kept his eyes closed. "If only I was a bit faster today….then you wouldn't have been.." He couldn't finish as Kasumi hugged him tightly. Her head was in the crook of his neck as both teens wrapped their arms around each other. Naruto held on to her more tightly.

"Nothing happened to me. End of story." Kasumi said as she snuggled into him. "Besides…. How can anything happen to me when you're here?" Naruto did not say anything but merely held her in his arms. His chin rested on the top of her head. These were the moments he treasured dearly. Something that completed his hollow existence after his family had died. Shinobi were killers but they were also humans. Humans have their own dreams and one of his was leaning against him.

'No matter what happens… I am never going to let anything happen to you Kasumi.' Naruto thought as he once more saw the scene in which she was falling.

"Let's get some sleep." Naruto said and Kasumi nodded. And soon enough, both were lying together in the bed. True, it wasn't that large but then again they could never fall asleep without the other. Both were cuddled against each other as sweet abyss kidnapped them into its peaceful fortress.

* * *

Timeskip: One Day Later.

Location: Outside the Tower.

Two chunnin stood outside the Tower as they saw two teams of genin arriving with scrolls in their hands. They all stood but the chunnin spoke up immediately.

"Due to excessa amount of genin being passed, the amount of examinees taking part has been halted." One of them said and the genin stared at them dumbfoundedly.  
"What?" All the six genin asked in unison.

"It means it's been exactly more than three days." The other Chunnin said. "You're disqualified."

"But that's not fair." One of the genin said.

"Life's not fair kid. Now follow the path around the tower to get out of here safely unless you want to go through all that again." The chunnin said as he saw the disheartened genin leave. "Kind of feel bad for them."

"Yeah well this is what happens. Heads up we got the bogey coming." The first one said as Kabuto Yakushi, Misumi Tsurugi and Yoroi Akado arrived. Team Kabuto or rather Kasumi had tentatively titled "Team Glasses" in the first exam.

"Did we make it?" Kabuto asked as he handed them the chunnin the two scrolls containing the kanji for heaven and earth.

"Just in time. Go in then." The chunnin said and Team Kabuto would've gone in without question had Kabuto not asked a question.

"Why was the team before us going around the Tower?" Kabuto asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"Brats thought they could fool us with low tier genjutsu. It's gonna take years before they can fool us." The chunnin said and Kabuto nodded before walking away. After they went in the two chunnin started talking again.

"That son of a bitch was smirking wasn't he?" one of the chunnin asked.

"Yup." The other one said with a toothy grin.

* * *

Inside the Tower.

'Okay that should be enough for now.' Kabuto thought. 'Now all that's left is for me to call quits and try to grab Sasuke Uchiha while they no doubt keep him in the Hospital. Rookie of the Year or not, he's still a genin and a young one too something like the **Fuja Hoin / Evil Sealing Method** will take a toll on his body.' The spy thought as he eyed his targets. Naruto Uchiha was there but he looked to be perfectly fine and this raised questions. Sasuke looked like he was struggling a bit but Naruto on the other hand looked like he was okay for someone who had been tagged with the **Cursed Seal** , unless…

'Maybe Orochimaru-sama doesn't have an interest in him. He is from the branch clan. Sometimes he can be so picky with his choices. But I guess Itachi is to be blamed for that.' Kabuto thought. He was not able to get into contact with Orochimaru in the last day as the Snake Sannin had disappeared. He had not been captured that much was sure as their plans were relatively unknown. Konoha to their knowledge was a sitting duck at the moment.

How wrong they were,

"Hey glasses you made it!" Kasumi yelled out towards the team. All enmities aside Kabuto didn't hate the girl, in fact her personality was kind of infectious. Reminded him of a time when his life was not so royally fucked up.

"Yes we're sorry about that. We're not exactly the strongest team around." Kabuto lied through his teeth as took a good look around. 'The Sand Siblings are here. No surprise there. The Sound Team looks like they had trouble. The other teams from Konoha are here as well. All 13 of them. And the three of us makes sixteen altogether.'

Unknown to Kabuto he was being watched by nearly every jounin, chunnin and Naruto Uchiha at the moment. All eyes were on the spy of Orochimaru at the moment and some of them were also looking around to see if a slithery white snake was lurking about. What some of them didn't know was, that Orochimaru was indeed in the area with them. Currently he was disguised as woman, more specifically as the Jounin sensei of the Sound Genin Team. Her masqueareding name at the moment was Misa. Orochimaru was eyeing both the Uchiha. Sasuke for his part was standing with the crowd that were lined up talking with his team, especially with Naruto.

'Soon. I will soon have an Uchiha as a vessel. While I don't doubt Sasuke-kun's potential, at the moment Naruto-kun is stronger.' Orochimaru thought as he looked at the lines of genin.

Naruto Uchiha was at the moment sweating bullets. He could feel Orochimaru's presence to some extent right now. And he was not sure where it was coming from. For example, Sasuke's **Juin** was giving off a taint of his presence as it was fairly new and it was hard to suppress or control at the moment. Sasuke had been told by Kakashi not to use his Sharingan, not until they fix the seal anyway. This was something to Sasuke had scowled and frowned upon his sensei. Sasuke had a different approach to the seal, as it granted him more power. But, for now Sasuke would play catch. Only because his chakra control was also a bit messed up. He looked at his teammates.

'Sakura….you're not strong enough. Kasumi, she may prove to be a bit of a hassle but I think I can beat her. As for Naruto… how strong are you? You beat Mangetsu and fought a Sannin to a standstill. How did you become so strong?' Sasuke thought in his mind as he lightly glared at Naruto. Despite their more social interactions, Sasuke was still a bit jealous of Naruto. He was not sure why? Maybe because of his Uchiha genes or the need to be stronger. However, he has been a bit angst since the seal was placed on him.

Or maybe, it was because Naruto reminded him of Itachi. Always ahead of him; no matter how strong Sasuke gets and thinks he is that much closer to killing Itachi, Naruto shatters those thoughts as he shows his potential to be far greater than Sasuke could fathom at this age. What frustrated the Avenger even more was the fact that Naruto, compared to him, was happier and kinder than him. Yet stronger than him at the same time. This was a mystery to him that infuriated him. This only increased after he had woken up to see Naruto and Kasumi cuddled up together and sleeping so peacefully.

How could Naruto do that? Did he not remember how Itachi had brutally murdered their clan? And here he was

"*Cough*" Gekko Hayate coughed as he stood in front of the lines of wannabe genin and the already confirmed chunnin along with Anko Mitarashi and The Third Hokage. Hayate was not surprised when the high ups told him about Naruto becoming a chunnin. In his eyes and Yugao's he had already reached that level. But the fact that he was able to not die against someone like Orochimaru is what took the cake for them. The Third Hokage was very careful as to who let know about the Invasion. He had informed all chunnin and jounin that Orochimaru was in the village and Kabuto was a spy, but only a select trusted few knew about the Invasion. Sarutobi was no fool. He did not want Danzo Shimura to benefit from this chance, knowing full well that Danzo and Orochimaru were on 'friendly' terms before the Snake Sannin went rogue.

"For those of you who made it thus far, well done. As you saw not many of the genin who started their journey in the Forest of Death did not make it." Sarutobi said and paused. "However, we did not expect so many of you to make it through. So we will be having a preliminary round now." Upon the end of his words a great uproar from the genin started. It was natural, three days of torture and now this happened.

"Silence." Sarutobi said in a stern voice without raising it too much and everyone complied while some of the chunnin were internally laughing at the predicament of the genin. "The Final Round of the Chunnin Exams will have many guests among whom will be the Daimyo of other nations, as such their time cannot be wasted that much. The Chunnin Exams are also a way of showing one village's strength. If you're not strong enough to go through this hurdle, then there's no need for you to be in the finals at all." Sarutobi finished and the genin could not even begin to argue with that logic. Hayate coughed a bit as attention was forwarded towards him now.

"Hokage-sama, if I may take over from here?" Hayate asked and Sarutobi nodded before going up to sit at the upper area. "Right then. I am not going to waste further time and skip straight to the point. There will be a preliminary now and Hokage-sama has made an extra rule that applies today. Konoha nin are not allowed to quit without participating in the match. This is also serving as a trial for Konoha genin which we decided to take this time to see the battle capacity of the current generation." Hayate finished and Kabuto's eyes widened.

'Shit…. Of all the times they wanted to pull off a battle data evaluation. Now I have no choice. I'll just quit before the match gets too deep.' Kabuto thought. All the other genin were not that fazed though, they did come here to see who was stronger than the other. Then all their eyes moved over to the large screen above as it would randomly select genin and pit them against each other.

 **Sabaku no Kankuro vs Misumi Tsurugi**

"Alright all other contestants than Sabaku no Kankuro and Misumi Tsurugi leave the arena and proceed to the observation deck above." Hayate said as all the genin began to walk up the metal staircase as the first match would begin. Naruto didn't show it but he was a bit worried, especially since he could practically feel Orochimaru's presence in the arena. He was here but where? All the while, he was keeping his blank poker face on.

"Say Naru, who do you think will win?" Kasumi asked. "Glasses 3 or Makeup Boy?"

"Not sure. Perhaps Kankuro I guess." Naruto said. "We still don't know what his abilities are."

"Trying to dig up info are we?" Temari said as she walked forward towards the group of Team Seven.

"Well I am a shinobi." Naruto said. "So yes."

"Oi are you here to spy on us?!" Kasumi asked with tic mark on her head.

"Calm down Orange Girl." Temari said nonchalantly and Kasumi's eyebrow twitched. "I was just curious as all of you were talking about my teammate."

"Don't you mean your brother?" Naruto asked and Temari looked at him with a sly look.

"Oh, have you been digging up information on little old me?" She said with a flirty voice and Kasumi was a bit pissed now, a bit.

"Listen Sandy Fan," Kasumi said and this time Temari was twitching "stop acting like your our friend and –"

"Calm down Kasumi." Naruto said. He was also wary of the Sand Siblings. That battle fan was no joke if it can be used properly. "Suna is our _ally_ after all."

"Naru" Kasumi said while looking betrayed as Temari smirked at said blonde "are you siding with her?"

"I am siding with no one." Naruto said as he looked at her with a small smile. "Besides the match is about to start. He could be your opponent in the next round. So observe ne?" Naruto said as his gaze fixed on Kankuro and Misumi.

"Fine, but we're getting ramen after this." Kasumi said as she looked from the railing.

"Okay." Naruto said and Kasumi grinned.

 **(RESULT IS THE SAME AS CANON, NOT GONNA WASTE WORDS OR TIME, WINNER: Sabaku no Kankuro)**

"So he's a Kugutsutsu / Puppeteer." Naruto said as he observed Kankuro winning the match with his puppet. The string technique is what caught his eye the most. If one could master such deadly dexterity with sharp, death inflicting ninja wire than they would be a deadly foe.

"You know about **Kugutsu no Jutsu / Puppet Master Jutsu**?" Temari asked a bit surprised. Puppet Masters were rare in these days.

"Of course I do. Though this is the first time I'm seeing one. The only other person I've heard of using puppets is Akasuna no Sasori." Naruto said as Temari shivered a bit at the name of their infamous rogue nin.

"Who's that?" Sasuke asked interested in the whole matter.

"Sasori of the Red Sands." Naruto said remembering the fact that he was in the Akatsuki. "One of the most prominent shinobi of the Third Great Ninja War and renowned for his large innovation in creating battle worthy puppets. He was a genius of the art and the model Kankuro is using one of them. Karasu I believe."

"How did you-" Temari was going to finish her question but the moment he turned his face to her she already knew the answer. Blood red eyes, with the three tomoe spinning hypnotically. She looked away immediately. She knew well enough never to look an Uchiha in the eyes. "You're really interested in puppetry."

"Not really. My brother used to tell me tales about rather famous shinobi. Akasuna no Sasori was one of them." Naruto said as he deactivated his Sharingan.

"Wait why is he called Sasori of the Red Sands?" Kasumi asked.

"Sasori was classified as an S Rank Shinobi and fell under the Gun no Kira / Military Killer category. He alone could take out battalions out by himself and destroy minor shinobi villages without aid. The reason for that nickname is….Sasori used to leave the dry sands soaked with blood, changing the color of it to a ghastly red. Hence, he was called Sasori of the Red Sands."

All the genin around him were pretty terrified by the story of that alone. A man who could destroy a small shinobi village without any sort of help was a nightmare. Ino Yamanaka decided to speak up.

"Wait, your brother?" Ino asked and Naruto looked a bit down. Immediately she realized her mistake. "I'm so sorry Naruto-kun. I didn't-"

"It's alright Ino." Kasumi spoke up for Naruto who nodded. "He doesn't mind really."

"Well if you really don't mind, who was he?" Ino Yamanaka ever the curious girl asked.

"Shisui Uchiha." Kasumi replied and Kankuro who had made his way up stuttered.

"Woah! Wait… as in Shunshin no Shisui? The Teleporter?" Kankuro asked. Baki had often told him about Shisui Uchiha, the man who was responsible for a lot of recon squads from different villages fleeing at the sight of him.

"The very same." Naruto said.

"Didn't you guys talked about anything not gloomy?" Kasumi asked and Naruto retorted.

"We did. But, most of the time Kaa-chan used to tell us the funny tales." Naruto said.

"Like what?" Kasumi asked.

"Hmm." Naruto tried to remember and said. "I remember. She said that Jiraiya of the Sannin nearly died once here in Konoha."

"How is that funny Naruto?!" Sakura asked in shock just like the rest of the genin, bar Gaara. The jounin were sighing, even they knew the story behind that. While some of the others laughed.

"Well, Jiraiya of the Sannin was…. No still is one of the biggest perverts in the world." Naruto said it like as if he was talking about the weather. Some were staring at his indignant disrespect towards one of the most powerful shinobi in the world. "One day he was caught peeping in the Hot Springs. Kaa-chan was still very young then and said that he got caught by Tsunade Senju who was there in the Hot Springs."

"What happened next?" Tenten asked, even Shikamaru was interested as he was listening to every word intently.

"Tsunade Senju beat him to an inch near death." Naruto said with a morbid expression. "Jiraiya was apparently in a mini coma induced from the beating he got. And that's the day Kaa-chan saw Tsunade's legendary super strength."

"Super strength?" Sasuke asked.

"Tsunade-sama is considered the strongest kunoichi in history and the most innovative medical nin as well. She's the one who created the **Shosen no Jutsu / Mystic Palm Technique**." Tenten said as she saw Tsunade as a huge role model.

"True. She is the strongest kunoichi right now. But she's not the strongest kunoichi in history." Naruto said.

"Wait if the female member of the Sannin isn't the strongest kunoichi in history, who is it?" Kiba asked ask Akamaru also barked in response.

"Simple. Mito Senju the wife of the Shodai Hokage. Even before she was married, she was famous as Mito Uzumaki the Scarlet Seal Mistress." Naruto said as many of the Konoha genin looked at Kasumi with wide eyes.

"Uzumaki? The First Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki? Are they really that large of a clan?" Sakura asked. You couldn't blame her. After all, Uzushiogakure was not prominently mentioned in Konoha's historical texts, something that Naruto deeply resented as the clan was not given the proper respect it deserved. He was descended from one of the two clans that founded Konoha, so some could understand his bitter attitude in this affair.

"Don't beat yourself up about it Sakura." Naruto said. "The Uzumaki Clan were Seal Masters and the average chunnin from their village, Uzushiogakure, would have Kage level chakra. Lady Mito herself was the first person in recorded history to Master all the Ten Distinguished Fuuinjutsu Levels. She was also unrivaled in terms of kenjutsu and pure battles of strength stamina. She was also famous for another reason." The genin were reeling from the information.

The average chunnin had Kage level chakra? They looked at Kasumi in wonder thinking just how much chakra she had.

"What would that be?" Kasumi asked as she had never fully heard of Mito either. Well not in full detail. She didn't listen to some of the things Naruto said. Don't make that face, Naruto gave very long lectures sometimes.

"Her mass amounts of chakra, she even had more than the First Hokage." Naruto said as the pin was dropped. Hiruzen Sarutobi was chuckling at what Naruto said, he was listening as he laced his ears with chakra when he saw the huddled up genin talking like that. Hiruzen was glad that someone among the new generation knew about the Uzumaki Clan. Their downfall was one of his greatest failures in his mind.

"WHAT?!" They yelled out in unison.

"Hai." Naruto said. "Kaa-chan said she died around ten to fifteen years before the Third Great Ninja War."

"But that would mean…she was over a hundred." Sakura said in shock as Sasuke merely stared at Kasumi who was grinning at being related to the First Hokage.

"Indeed. In fact, out of all us Kasumi has the most chakra. The amount of it is ridiculous too. That's why she could never make a simple **Bunshin** / **Clone.** " Naruto finished and he could see that wings had begun to sprout. He couldn't afford to let her fly high now. "Of course her chakra control is probably the most terrible out of us all."

"HAHAHAHAAHHAHAH!" all the genin burst out laughing as Kasumi immediately changed her expression to a dull one and looked at Naruto with betrayed eyes.

"Naru." Kasumi whined out. "How could you do this to me?"

"Because I can." Naruto said smirking at her.

"*cough*" Hayate coughed and was pointing to the board which showed that the next competitors had already been chosen for the next fight. It was Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka.

"Well Billboard Brow. Looks like you're about to get your forehead handed to you." Ino said.

"We'll see about that Piggy." Sakura said with tick marks on her head.

Both were making it down their way to the stairs as Kasumi yelled.

"Good luck Sakura! Show them why Team Seven's the best." Kasumi yelled out.

"Sorry Kasumi-chan, but Team Eight is the best." Kiba said. "Even without one extra member. Right, Shino?"

"…" Shino said nothing and everyone sweat dropped. He then nodded.

"See he agrees." Kiba said as Akamaru also yelled out his opinion.

"Easy there Inuzuka. Don't get ahead of yourself." Sasuke said as he smirked. "Perhaps you're forgetting that our team has two Uchiha in it."

"Oh yeah so what?" Kiba said as he got in Sasuke's face. Both were looking at each other to fight. Kakashi and Kurenai were coming to separate them, but something happened.

"Stop it Teme." Kasumi said and slapped Sasuke's back…. A bit too hard and Sasuke was sent smashing into Kiba. But no, the worst part was that Kiba was lying on the ground with Sasuke over him. With their lips on top of another.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura and Ino cried out in horror seeing that. Their match hadn't begun yet and this happened. Naruto for his part didn't say or do anything but was internally screaming.

'Think happy thoughts…Um. Yeah…Oh shit….umm. Oh that's right Kasumi's **Sexy Jutsu** ' Naruto said to himself as he remembered the voluptuous woman in the scantily clad clothes. Boy was he glad his Sharingan was activated on them, and he didn't realize it when some blood came out of his nose. Hiruzen Sarutobi dropped his pipe at what he saw as his eyes widened. All the guys were looking away from sheer horror at what just happened, Kakashi immediately brought out his book and was actually reading it out a bit loud. Sakura and Ino broke down into the ground at not being Sasuke's first kiss. Hinata for her part was red faced and blushed out of both embarrassment and the fact that she liked it for some reason. So did some of the other girls.

What was this called again? Right…yaoi.

Kiba and Sasuke were then spitting and cleaning their mouths as everyone around them were reeling from shock. After a while, Naruto broke the silence.

"Well….at least you both got your first kiss." Naruto said with a straight, emotionless face and that's what made it worse. Meanwhile Sakura and Ino's match finally went underway.

 **(OKAY. The match was a draw, but know this. The fight was better than the canon. As in, Sakura used some earth jutsu and Ino used some water jutsu. Before both of them were engaging in kunai fights. Then ended in a brawl.)**

"Hmm. If Sakura, had built up her chakra reserves a bit more she would've won." Naruto said. Sakura had indeed improved, and much to his surprise Ino Yamanaka did too. He really underestimated her it would seem.

"Yeah." Kasumi said. "She only started **Doton** recently."

"Still it was a good fight. Too bad the readers won't get the details of it." Shikamaru said.

"What readers Shikamaru?" Choji asked in surprise.

"Troublesome. Forget about it." Shikamaru said as he looked up at whatever deity was looking down at him, hoping he wouldn't get in a troublesome match. It would be more troublesome if it was a girl. Sakura and Ino had come back up and both their teams were actually congratulating them for putting up a good fight show, bar Sasuke who was too cool for it and the fact he was still recovering from the shock. Then the screen randomly drew names once more and finally stopped at with Zaku Abumi going against Shino Aburame.

 **(AGAIN SAME AS CANON, WINNER: Shino Aburame)**

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said as he saw the injuries on Zaku's arms.

"Yes. Fighting against would be a hassle." Naruto said.

"There has to be a way to counter it." Sasuke said.

All three of them were intently focused on Shino Aburame, who had proven himself to be a dark horse in this race. Of course, Naruto would be lying if he said he didn't underestimate Shino. Turns out that Shino had hidden his skills even more so than him. An unknown opponent was a scary opponent. And it seemed that Shino knew how to use his clan's jutsu down to a tee.

'Fighting bugs that constantly feed on your chakra…. Maybe if I use long range **Katon** then maybe. But still, he could find a way to counter it.' Both Naruto and Sasuke thought. Then finally the screen randomized the names once more. Then the names were starting to randomize once more and once more two names were stated who would confront each other.

 **Yoroi Akado vs Sasuke Uchiha**

"You better not lose Teme." Kasumi said. "I'm kicking your ass at the Finals."

"Hn, I should be the one saying that Dobe." Sasuke as both their eyebrows twitched.

"Let's all calm down okay." Sakura said, playing the peace keeper. "Good luck Sasuke-kun." Sakura said.

Sasuke was walking by but he remembered what Kakashi said. Not to use the Sharingan, until they've sealed up whatever the hell Orochimaru did to him. He was against it as it gave him power, but his chakra control network wasn't used to it so either way his blessed eyes were a no go. He stopped turning around and looking at Naruto.

"See you at the finals then." Naruto said and Sasuke smirked. Someone as strong as Naruto was acknowledging him. A pure challenge thrown out and Sasuke would surely answer it back with full force. Sasuke went down to face Yoroi.

"Do you think Sasuke-kun will be alright?" Sakura asked out of concern.

"He should be fine, as long as he doesn't use the Sharingan." Naruto said.

 **(AGAIN SAME AS CANON, WINNER: Sasuke Uchiha, ONLY NO LIONS BARRAGE FINISHER)**

"Yosh! That was a youthful match." Lee said as he was doing sit ups in anticipation for when he would fight. "I can't wait to see how Sasuke will do once I fight him in the finals."

"You should calm down Lee. As good as you are no doubt, the Sharingan will be able to break down the taijutsu you use. If I or Sasuke do end up copying some of your moves, I apologize in advance." Naruto said.

"It's no problem, Naruto." Lee said as he gave his nice guy pose. "That's what makes it more challenging."

"It's alright Naruto." Might Guy was the one who said it as he came forward. "That's the thing about the Sharingan, you pick up things whether you want to or not. Shisui once told me that when he asked me for a few spars."

"He lost every single one of them didn't he?" Naruto asked with an amused smile.

"Yes. Did he tell you?" Guy asked.

"Not really it was a guess. I always did remember him coming home a few days looking like he faced an entire squadron and always mumbled something about 'green spandex freak spars'. I should've known it was you Guy-nii-san." Naruto said with a chuckle. He wasn't kidding when he said Shisui came back looking like a mess.

"Yosh!" Guy said as he began his little 'moment' "Such youthful students. I wish you were more like them Kakashi!" Guy said and Kakashi looked up from his book.

"Sorry did you say something?" Kakashi said and Guy immediately cringed.

"DAMN YOU AND YOUR HIP ATTITUDE KAKASHI!" Guy said in defeat.

"At least you're not like him, right Naruto?" Lee asked as he saw Naruto talking with Sasuke who had come back up. Naruto looked at Lee sheepishly.

"Sorry, were you saying something?" Naruto asked honestly.

"GAI-SENSEI! HE TOO IS INFECTED WITH THE HIP ATTITUDE!" Lee proclaimed with tears in his eyes.

"LEE!" Gai cried with manly tears in his eyes. "My youthful student! We shall burn away their hipness with our Flames of Youth!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Hey look at that the next fight is going to happen!" Naruto yelled as he was sweating bullets. Thankfully, he got it to stop as Kurenai mouthed a 'Thank you' to him and he nodded. He was sighing in relief. He really did not want to see the **Eternal Sunset of Youth** as of now. Naruto focused on the two names as he read them.

 **Shikamaru Nara vs Kin Tsuchi**

After that Sasuke and Kakashi went away, no doubt to use the **Evil Sealing Method**. Naruto then paid close attention to Shikamaru Nara. When in the Academy, there were only two students Naruto was wary of. Sasuke and Shikamaru. He was lazy. But then again, the Nara Clan was legendary for its laziness but also for their sharp, tactical minds. Shisui once told him that the most dangerous thing in the world was a motivated Nara.

 **(SAME AS CANON. WINNER: Shikamaru Nara)**

"Smart as always Shikamaru." Naruto said as he then sighed. "Though I really wish, he doesn't get so lazy all the time."

"You can't do anything about it." Ino said with a deadpan expression as she sighed. "That's like telling a fish not to swim."

"Hey!" Kasumi called out as Shikamaru finally arrived at their spot. "Why the hell did you laze around so much?"

"I didn't feel like even participating in the match. Then Mom would've been bugging me to no end." Shikamaru said.

"Shikamaru you should really use your Flames of Youth more!" Lee said with great vigor. "Laziness is the mother of all bad habits."

"True." Shikamaru said as he yawned a bit. "But then again, laziness is a mother. And we should give her the proper respect she deserves."

"….."

"…"

"….."

 **Tenten Higurashi vs Sabaku no Temari**

( **SAME AS CANON, WINNER: Sabaku no Temari)**

"Tenten lost!" Lee said with disappointment. "I thought she would've won."

"Considering that Temari was a **Fuuton** user, Tenten really didn't have a chance since she is a weapons expert." Naruto said. "That Battle Fan only increases the sharpness of her wind more."

"You've seem to given this a fair bit of thought." For the first time Neji spoke up. "Were you by any chance observing our training session?"

"Coming from the person who has a set of Byakugan? If I did you would've seen me." Naruto said as Neji didn't reply anymore.

"Pst." Kasumi said to Naruto who leaned forward. "I think that guy also has a stick in his ass."

"Oh for Kami's sake." Naruto said as he put his hand around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "Why do you always have to say that about people who are a bit reserved Sumi?"

"Because it's true." Kasumi said with her iconic foxy grin. Naruto shook his head as some of the genin were looking at them. Kurenai for her part was simply handed a few couple of ryo from Asuma who was mumbling something incoherent.

 **Choji Akimichi vs Dosu Kinata**

"Alright Choji make me proud." Asuma said and Choji looked reluctant.

"But sensei those Sound guys are strong. I don't think I can win." Choji said as he ate some chips.

"If you do well, I'll give you a t-" Asuma couldn't finish as Choji jumped down from the runway above on to the sparring ground. "reat."

 **(SAME AS CANON, WINNER: Dosu Kinata)**

"Well at least he tried." Asuma said with a sweat drop.

"I'm not surprised." Kasumi said. "Choji never wanted to fight in the Academy….ever."

"Yeah." Shikamaru said. "He was always looking not to hurt others."

'He's going to have to change his mind soon about that.' Naruto thought as the defeated Choji made it back and had a disappointed look on his face as his team cheered him up. The names began to spin as Naruto sighed. Kakashi had just come back now.

 **Kiba Inuzuka vs Kasumi Uzumaki**

"YES!" Kasumi jumped up and down as she tightly hugged Naruto who was finding it hard to keep his balance. "Time to show them my natural awesomeness!" Kasumi said as she jumped down to the arena. Kiba meanwhile was shrugging.

"Aw man." Kiba whined. "I have to fight Kasumi-chan. It's gonna be too easy and I don't wanna hurt her….I'd rather take her out on a date." Naruto merely said nothing as Kiba looked at him for a reaction.

"Umm Kiba." Sakura said "You really shouldn't underestimate Kasumi."

"But come on it's Kasumi-chan." She's never won a spar at the Academy against any of us before, except the civilians."

"Kiba." Kurenai said as she came forward. "Are you looking down on her?"

"No sensei!" Kiba said. "It's just I don't want to hurt her. I mean she's a girl and-" Kurenai immediately cut him off.

"Finish that sentence and no medic-nin alive will be able to fix what I do to you." Kurenai said coldly and even Naruto got shivers down his spine.

'Damn! Kurenai-nee-san. That was cold.' Naruto said with a sweat drop.

"H-Hai!" Kiba said in fear and scurried down the stairs.

"Honestly that boy." Kurenai said. She had been trying to peg his attitude down but was not able to succeed properly. "Sorry about that Naru-chan" She said and Naruto immediately face faulted. Meanwhile some of the guys were snickering at him.

"It's alright Kurenai-nee-san. But did you have to call me that in public?" Naruto said with a deadpan expression.

"But that's what I always called you. Even Satsuki-san said it was alright to call you that." Kurenai said with a small, devious smile. Ah his mother, even she liked to tease him.

"Of course she did. And I'm sure Shisui-nii telling you to call me that was nothing at all." Naruto said as Kurenai ruffled his hair as he pouted.

* * *

The Fight

"Kasumi-chan" Kiba said with a whine. "We don't have to fight. Just give up I don't want to hurt someone as pretty as you."

"Can it Kiba!" Kasumi said as she took the Uzumaki Swirl Fist kata she had been practicing since returning from Wave. "Get ready."

"But why?" Kiba asked. "I mean you're going to lose anyway. How about I take you to a date instead?"

"Are you… thinking you can beat me that easily?" Kasumi asked as she gritted her teeth.

"No offence, but you never won against me in any of the spars." Kiba said as Akamaru was standing beside him.

"Just for that." Kasumi said as he looked at Kiba with deadest eyes "I'm going to break your nose."

* * *

The Stands

"Ah shit!" Naruto said as he face palmed.

"What's wrong?" Kurenai asked.

"She's actually going to break Kiba's nose." Naruto said while Sakura shook her head.

"Wait she was serious?" Ino asked.

"Last time Sasuke looked down on her, he nearly got impaled." Naruto said and everyone looked at him in confusion. He then shouted "Sumi!"

"What Naru?! Can you talk with me later?! I'm about to send Kiba down six feet under so-" Kasumi couldn't finish.

"No chains!" Naruto shouted out.

"What?!" Kasumi yelled from below.

"You heard me no using your chains. You're angry right now and I don't want him getting injured." Naruto said.

"Fine!" Kasumi said.

"Well that takes care of one problem." Naruto said. "Let's just hope he doesn't instigate her."

"Are you that afraid of her?" Kurenai asked and Naruto shivered a bit.

"You have no idea." Naruto said with a deathly expression.

* * *

The Fight

"Hajime!" Hayate said as both genin flung shuriken at each other. They clashed in mid air as Akamaru barked and moved away to a further distance to observe Kasumi and yell to Kiba when to move. As Kasumi and Kiba engaged in Taijutsu, Kiba was surprised.

Each time Kiba tried to land a hit Kasumi would overpower that with her own fist. Needless to say, physically Kasumi was a bit stronger than him. And now, Kasumi ducked down to dodge a punch and immediately shot up with an uppercut as it grazes Kiba's chin sending him back as his feet leave the air. She immediately makes her iconic hand seal.

" **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** Kasumi says as two clones around her form she throws one of them at Kiba followed by another and finally she rushes at him. The two clones kick him up as Kasumi punches him away.

* * *

Stands

"Considering her chakra amount, it's not surprising she knows **Kage Bunshin** but that fight stance is so…" Kurenai couldn't find the right word.

"Off." Kakashi finished for her and Kurenai nodded. "It may look like it has holes, but the addition of **Shadow Clones** more than makes up for it. It's so random at times, even I have a hard time catching up to her."

"Woah!" Ino said in awe. "When did Kasumi get this good?"

"She's been like that ever since the graduation ceremony." Sakura said. "She's been improving ever since."

"Troublesome Menace got even more troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh. Naruto merely smiled.

* * *

The Fight

"Not bad Kasumi-chan." Kiba said as he stood with Akamaru. "Looks like I'm going to have to beat you now." He then got down on all fours as some of his chakra glowed around him and his feral features became more prominent: his canines grew sharper, his slitted irises became more prominent and his nails grew longer too.

"Get ready to lose." Kiba said. " **Tsuuga / Tunneling Fang!"** Kiba yelled as he dashed off the ground at a good speed and spun wildly turning into a small converged hurricane as he rushed towards Kasumi. Kasumi using the Sacred Log did a **Kawarimi** to avoid it. She saw the drilled stone and evaluated the situation.

'Okay. Naru always told me to calmly observe. Why is Akamaru here?' Kasumi thought as she avoided another **Tsuuga**. Then Kiba engaged her in taijutsu once more but his attacks seemed sharper than before and was putting out more strength. Kasumi kicked him once more, this time directly on his pelvis to dishevel him and gain some space. Akamaru now came towards him.

"Not bad Kasumi-chan. Keep this up and I'll have to marry you at one point." Kiba said as he pocketed his pouch.

"What?" Kasumi asked a bit surprised.

"You heard me. I always liked you. You'd be a good matriarch for the Inuzuka Clan." Kiba said as he found what he was looking for.

"You're actually talking about this right now? Kiba we're not in the Academy anymore. Besides, I'm with Naru." Kasumi said with resolve.

"Psht." Kiba scoffed as his eyes went over to Naruto for a moment. "As if he cares, I mean look at him he doesn't even care about you. I bet he just took you in to take advantage of you."

* * *

Stands

"- I bet he just took you in to take advantage of you."

"….."

"Naru-chan." Kurenai was going to say more.

"It's alright Kurenai-nee-san." Naruto said with an absolutely stoic voice and had a blank look. For some reason, Kurenai felt nostalgia seeing this. That far off look when someone hides their emotions. She knew that look all too well, she had seen it on a certain someone's face who always hid his pain and never complained about anything.

"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she came forward and bowed her head a bit. "I'm sorry for what Kiba-kun is saying about you."

"It's alright Hinata." Naruto said his eyes not leaving Kasumi at all. In all honesty, he was worried if Kasumi would leak the Kyuubi's chakra or not. "Besides, Sumi is going to win this."

* * *

Fight

Kasumi said nothing as she stood still.

"What did you say?" Kasumi asked.

"I said he probably took you in to take advantage of you. Maybe he hasn't done it yet. But he will. I mean he used to stare at you from time to time, and most of those looks were weird ones." Kiba said as he fed Akamaru on of the Soldier Pills he had brought with him.

"You… know nothing about him." Kasumi said.

"Yeah right. It's just a matter of time before he has his way with you and discards you." He said as Akamaru got on top of his head. She then started making hand seals as Kiba looked in curiosity. "Oi Kasumi-chan since when can you-"

" **Suiton: Mizurappa / Water Style: Violent Water Wave!"** Kasumi said as she spewed out a large stream of water aiming at Kiba who was in shock and got hit by the water which dragged him and Akamaru to the wall.

* * *

Stands

"What the hell Kakashi?" Asuma asked as said masked jounin looked lazily at him. "What have you been teaching the kids?"

"Oh not much really. I wanted to stick to the usual genin stuff. But Naruto over there decided with the rest of them that everyone should learn some Elemental Release." Kakashi said.

"I thought only Naruto and Sasuke could use elemental ninjutsu." Kurenai said. "It's surprising for Kasumi because she has too much chakra and can't control it."

"Comparatively her control is rather good now." Naruto said. "But, there's something else she's better at."

* * *

Fight

"What the hell Kasumi-chan?!" Kiba yelled. He really hated getting hit with a water jutsu. "You could've seriously hurt Akamaru!"

"And I should care because?" Kasumi said with a cold tone. As of this moment, Kiba felt very scared. All his human instincts were telling him to run away. He had his share in experiencing female fury, but right now he felt like there was something else in play here. But fortunately, or rather unfortunately, his 'Alpha' instincts were bringing up a rather interesting turn of conclusions in his mind.

"Fine then! If that's how you want to play Kasumi-chan." Kiba said as he looked at Akamaru who jumped on top of his head.

"You think I'm going to play with you Kiba?" Kasumi asked as she braced herself for whatever the Inuzuka heir was planning. "You…you said something very terrible about Naru. You don't know just how much I'm going to hurt you at the end of this."

"Kasumi-chan at the end of this match you'll see who the real alpha is here. Me, not Naruto." Kiba said as he began to channel chakra and got down on all fours. " **Juji Bunshin no Jutsu / Beast Clone Jutsu!"** A puff of smoke covered the bodies of Kiba and Akamaru as there was another Kiba taking the same pose on top the crouched Kiba.

"So….Akamaru can **Henge** into you…" Kasumi said as she, guessed, knew what attack was coming. It was just a guess.

" **Gatsuga / Fang Over Fang!"** Kiba yelled as both him and Akamaru dashed at Kasumi who was looking at the incoming attack.

* * *

Stands

"Why isn't she moving out of the way?" Sakura asked.

"Not sure." Naruto replied. He had never seen Kasumi do this before. It was almost like she was looking to get hit and prove a point. And then Naruto's eyes widened as a resounding collision noise came.

* * *

Fight

Kiba and Akamaru hit Kasumi dead straight as she was sent flying back and hit the ground as her body hit the ground while it rolled over to hit the wall. Kiba and Akamaru stopped and saw that Kasumi was not getting up. Kiba turned around to the proctor.

"It's over. Call the match proctor man. I'll take Kasumi-chan to the infirmary, especially since her boyfriend didn't make her grow that strong." Kiba said and Hayate coughed into his hand before pointing to the direction behind the Inuzuka heir. Kiba's eyes widened as he saw Kasumi stand up from the attack. One of her jacket's sleeves was ripped right off as she stood up. Dust had settled down on her form from the last tussle and she was looking at Kiba.

"Is that it?" Kasumi asked as she slowly took steps forward to Kiba. "Is that all you can do…'Alpha'?" Kasumi asked once more.

"Stay down Kasumi-chan. I don't want to hurt a pretty face like yours." Kiba said and Akamaru seemed hesitant for some reason.

"See that's the problem." Kasumi said. "That's the problem with you and those other guys who asked me out. Always saying I'm a pretty girl, or a growing girl who should know better and go out with them. You treat me like a… prize. Like I'm something to be won. Like I'm an object."

"That's not true Kasumi-chan." Kiba said. "I-"

"Is that why you once tried to pull me in the corner in the Academy?" Kasumi asked. "You thought I'd forget something like that. What was it you said? That's right. 'A pretty girl like you should belong to someone like me.'" Everyone simply stood and heard the words that Kasumi said.

"Oi Kasumi-chan… That was just a-" Kiba tried to argue.

"Joke." Kasumi said cutting him off. "Just like that other time, you and that Shinoda kid were planning to what was it again? I remember. 'Catch her after the Academy when she's tired.' Do tell what you were planning after you do the 'catching'? That's right. We all know what you wanted to do."

"I was just going to ask you out on a date but-" Kiba was once more cut off.

"Your sister had shown up and I am glad. Maybe I was overthinking things, maybe you would just ask me out on a date. Maybe. You know I thought I had made it pretty clear I didn't want to go out with any boy. But all of you would bother me so much I had no choice but beat you guys down. And now that I'm finally with someone you can't seem to stand it." Kasumi finished. "Why is that so hard?"

"Because that teme doesn't deserve you!" Kiba growled out, jealousy clearly evident in his voice. "He never even paid attention to you in the Academy. All he did was ignore you or brush you off whenever you tried to talk to him. Even then, he got your attention whereas I tried to be kind and asked you out every time. What does he have that I don't?! That fucking branch member compared to me is nothing!" Kiba said clearly not in his right mind as **Beast Taijutsu** enhances all your feral senses.

* * *

Stands

"Kurenai-nee-san." Naruto spoke up. "I hope something is done about this. Or I will do something about Kiba." Naruto said. He couldn't believe that those things had happened when he had ignored her. It was his fault. He had overreacted to Kasumi's words and left her for all those years.

"Naruto calm down." Kurenai said. "What Kiba did was indeed disgusting. Something that no doubt I or his family are going to _punish_ him for. But, would you really harm him that badly for Kasumi?" She asked knowing full well what Uchiha were capable of.

"I would start a war if it means keeping her safe." Naruto said without hesitation. The others merely stared at him. Kakashi sighed. Kiba was going to get a new one ripped in him. Probably from his mother or sister. And he prayed that Naruto wouldn't instigate a fight with him.

* * *

Fight

"I see." Kasumi said as a poof of smoke appeared around her arm as Ginken appeared and the light reflected off the sliver blade, as its blue edge shined. She then sheathed the blade as it came out of her other arm. "You really don't like Naru. I don't know why you hate him. But I want you to know something."

"What's that?" Kiba asked his animalistic features got sharper.

"No matter what you do or think. Naruto is a better man than you. All these months I've been with him, he didn't once look at me like I'm an object. He didn't ask anything from me in return. He made me this strong. I know I have a clan because of him. He gave me this sword and now, I am going to end this." Kasumi said as she held the sword in the Shinten Itto-ryu Stance. Naruto was just hoping that she wouldn't hurt him too much.

"Even now!" Kiba growled out. "After this I'll beat him and show why I'm better for you!"

"Even if you beat him. I will never feel the same way for you." Kasumi said with a smile. Then she saw Kiba and Akamaru once more rushing at her with **Gatsuga**. Kasumi breathed in and exhaled slowly. The plan worked and Kiba was closing in. Even at high speeds she could see clearly as adrenaline flowed in her body. She gripped the sword. And for a moment she disappeared and appeared behind the two tornados only her sword unsheathed. The two tiny tornadoes were still flying disheveled as she sheathed her sword and a resounding 'click' echoed in the area.

" **Shishi Sonson / Lion's Song.** " Kasumi said and the two figures hit the ground as both Kiba and Akamaru were lying on the ground bleeding from the slash that had come. Hayate rushed over to Kiba and Akamaru. Being a kenjutsu expert and after training the two genin with Yugao every so now and then, he knew how dangerous that slash was. But luckily Kasumi had held back. Seems the girl was finally tempering her emotions more. She had goaded Kiba into attacking her so that her distance would decrease, along with the power of the strike. He saw that the duo was safe and stood up to declare the winner.

"Shosha, Kasumi Uzumaki!" Hayate said as he motioned for the medic nins to take the two to the infirmary. Kasumi slowly made her way back up to the stands as nobody said a word to her. She simply stood beside Naruto as her own hand was grasped in his. He looked sad.

"You should've told me." Naruto said as the names began to spin when the duo were cleared from the arena.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to hurt him. He's an ass and a bit rapey in terms of attitude. But I didn't want you to hurt him badly." Kasumi said, remembering full well how he was going to kill Mizuki.

"I wouldn't have killed him. Just would've neutered him for life." Naruto said as the guys around them shivered. The conviction in his voice was too terribly honest.

 **Neji Hyuga vs Hinata Hyuga**

 **(SAME RESULT AS CANON, Winner: Neji Hyuga; Though Hinata had a bit more self confidence. And Neji couldn't harm her as fatally as he did in the canon plot)**

"Dammit." Kasumi said as she saw Hinata being carried away on a stretcher while she was still conscious. If the jounin hadn't interfered at the last second, she could've been injured badly. "I'm going to kick his ass as well. Then teme's, that make up guy's and then that Fan Chick."

"What did she do to you?" Naruto asked.

"I have my reasons." Kasumi said. 'I still remember that little flirt you tried to pull off.'

The names spun and finally two names appeared.

 **Naruto Uchiha vs Kabuto Yakushi**

"It's you Naru!" Kasumi said happily as Naruto nodded. Then all of a sudden she kissed him on the cheek in front of everyone as Naruto got a bit red. "That's for the good luck."

"Thanks." Naruto said not sure how to react to every other guy, minus Gaara, grinning at him. Why the heck was the Hokage also grinning at him?

Naruto got down and waited for Kabuto to arrive.

* * *

 _"So those are all the matches that are going to take place." Sarutobi said as gave Naruto the paper. "You will draw out the fight and injure Kabuto as much as you can."_

 _"I see." Naruto said. He did feel a bit guilty. All the decisions had been made of who would go against who. The genin were his classmates and Kasumi was among them. Still, this was to take out an important piece in Orochimaru's chessboard. "Anything else Hokage-sama?"_

 _"Don't kill him. I think he is as strong as an elite jounin if he caught Orochimaru's eye. Also, try to make him force his hand. Since its an evaluation he has to fight to some extent. Injure him though. So we can interrogate him later." Sarutobi said._

 _"Understood Hokage-sama." Naruto finished._

* * *

Fight

"Hajime!" Hayate said as Naruto and Kabuto engaged in taijutsu and just like Kabuto, Naruto had slowed down his attack. Naruto and Kabuto were merely cancelling each other's moves out. Kabuto was doing his best not to beat Naruto. To his information, Naruto was not that good and the skill he was showing right now was proving to be right. Then both of them had simultaneously brought out their kunai and were clashing with each other as metal collided with metal. Naruto let himself be overpowered by Kabuto every now and then.

* * *

Stands

"What the heck is he doing?" Kasumi said with a pout.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked.

"Naruto's not fighting seriously." Sakura said. "I've never seen him fight so lazily."

* * *

Fight

'Okay, looks like plans have changed.' Kabuto thought as he disarmed Naruto's kunai and was going to stab him in the shoulder. 'Looks like I'm going into the finals.' Kabuto thought as a smirk appeared on his face. Then he felt something strange.

He felt….numb.

Electricity jolted throughout his body as he saw Naruto's hands create lines of lightning around his fingers that were attacking Kabuto's body.

" **Raiton: Rai no Yaiba / Lightning Style: Blade of Lightning"** Naruto said as the small electric blades sent painful sensations to his body. Kabuto tried to get back into character but suddenly Naruto appeared in front of him and punched him straight in the nose as some blood came out of it. Kabuto tried to gain balance but Naruto's knee made its way to jab at his gut. The hits were heavy too. Frustrated, Kabuto increased his speed and punched Naruto straight on his jaw as Naruto skidded back. Naruto was smirking inwardly.

'Little snake took the bait.' Naruto thought as he cleaned some of the blood from the corner of his mouth.

* * *

Stands

"Naru." Kasumi said.

'So Kabuto is frustrated. That **Blade of Lightning** is annoying alright. It can tick off probably anyone.' Kakashi thought. 'Now everything depends on Naruto.'

* * *

Fight

Kabuto had sped up considerably as he tried to stab Naruto with his kunai. The kunai itself was laced with poison. However, Naruto was dodging and countering every stab with his own kunai. Then Naruto activated his Sharingan and Kabuto saw all three tomoe spinning. Kabuto got kicked in the gut and he backed away to think about his situation.

'Three tomoe. But Orochimaru-sama didn't mark him…Why? Clearly he's stronger but that would mean…. Did he fight Orochimaru-sama?' Kabuto thought for a moment. 'No… a genin taking on someone like him and coming out without a scratch.. No it's impossible. Still I should quit now. No point in staying with his dark horse.'

"Proctor I'd like to-" Kabuto began.

" **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu / Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"** Naruto said as he blew out orange colored flames that took the shape of a ball launched at Kabuto who replaced himself with a Log at the last moment. Kabuto then saw that his chest was bleeding a bit as a kama headed straight for his face. Kabuto ducked as the kama missed him and took out some senbons and launched them at Naruto. Naruto once more launched a **Fire Ball Jutsu** to dissipate the senbons with a single hand seal. Kabuto was once more trying to say that he would quit.

'Oh no you don't.' Naruto thought as he rushed at Kabuto with great speed. He made the hand seals and drew out some shuriken.

" **Katon: Housenka Tsumabeni / Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Crimson Nails!"** Naruto said as he spewed out several small fireballs and threw them with his shuriken as both attacks headed at Kabuto.

" **Doton: Doryuheki / Earth Style: Mud Wall"** Kabuto made the hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground as a wall of earth emerged from the ground to take the full blow of the attack. Then Naruto appeared out of the smoke that had emerged and Kabuto was engaging him in taijutsu but felt a tug on his leg as he saw some wire attached to his foot. Naruto immediately kicked him and made some hand seals as he was still in faze.

" **Raiton: Dendou Kariyou no Jutsu / Lightning Style: Lightning Overdose Jutsu!"** Naruto said as his fist became encased with lightning and he delivered an uppercut to Kabuto who was numb for the moment. Naruto then lunged forward once more but Kabuto, miraculously had overcome the effect and launched some senbon at him which struck Naruto in his shoulder. Naruto backed off as shuriken after shuriken was hurled at him which his eyes kept tracing and he kept deflecting them with his kunai and soon enough. He found himself jumping on top of the wall Kabuto had made as he threw his shuriken in mid air to deflect the last incoming volley. Then Naruto looked around him as he was surrounded with ninja wire. Each shuriken had wires attached to them as his exits were blocked off. Kabuto smirked as he touched one of the wires with his kunai as the wires were getting closer to Naruto.

"You lose." Kabuto said no longer caring if he did go to the finals. This….genin had mocked his pride as a shinobi and had the gall to uppercut him in front of everyone. He pressed further but then the wires instead wrapped around him and he was trapped. Naruto looked at him with his eyes and Kabuto cursed his own arrogance. 'He saw through it right from the beginning.'

" **Katon"** Naruto said as he bit the string and held it in his hands with the tiger hand seals " **Ryuuka no Jutsu / Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu** " Naruto said as flames sped across the wires to reach Kabuto. But instead a Log had appeared as Kabuto substituted himself.

Naruto felt a sharp pain in his back. Blood flowed out as he was nicked by the kunai. Luckily it wasn't poisoned as Naruto was kicked away by a raging Kabuto who was a bit burned. Then Kabuto's hands glowed blue as he tried to keep slashing Naruto with his **Chakra no Mesu / Chakra Scalpels**. Naruto did not know about the internal damage the jutsu made but avoided at al costs. But Kabuto was getting closer. Then just when he was about to make a move a puff of smoke appeared in front of Naruto.

Kabuto's chakra enhanced arms slammed against something solid as he saw it was a Gunbai then a chain wrapped around him as he felt **Raiton** chakra being fed and it was making his body more numb. He only decreased the initial numbness in his body, he could not get rid of it completely. Then another Naruto popped out of the ground as it tightly held Kabuto while Naruto jumped up into the air while he made his hand seals as Gunbai was now on his back.

'Bastard must've made the clone when I made the **Mud Wall**. All I have to do is get away before he finishes his hand seals.' Kabuto thought. It was the right decision to make but the clone Naruto whispered something into his ear.

" **Bunshin Daibukha / Clone Explosion"**

 ***BOOM***

A great explosion occurred and Kabuto was right in the middle of it as Hayate moved away. Naruto could still feel Kabuto there and decided to unleash his jutsu. 'This should keep you in the hospital for some time.'

" **Katon: Goryuuka no Jutsu / Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Jutsu!"** Naruto yelled out as he spewed out a large head of a dragon made of flames to hit the area as flames engulfed the smoke below. Naruto threw a kunai with a wire to the other wall to pull himelf away as the fires blazed out their last flames. Kabuto had underestimated him too much and was now paying the price as Kabuto's body was seen badly burned as he was unconscious. Simple how C Ranked Jutsu could cause so much devastation. Hayate rushed over and checked his pulse.

"Get a medic over here!" Hayate yelled as a medical team arrived. Naruto was standing on the wall as he observed the situation. Hayate nodded lightly and Naruto looked away. "Shosha, Naruto Uchiha!"

Naruto then walked down to proceed to the stairs and every genin was staring at him, with Gaara smiling at Naruto. That smile really put him off.

"Naruto you could've killed him." Sakura said in fear. Chunnin Exams or not, Kabuto was a genin of the Leaf, a comrade. If only she knew.

"Hn." Naruto grunted to keep in character as he stood beside Kasumi. "He tried to kill me as well. I'm pretty sure that last technique of his would've damaged me in a big way." Naruto said as stood silently. The jounins said nothing as they were previously informed. Still they said what was scripted to make it look as normal as possible. However Kakashi was enjoying the rant and Naruto thought about really burning his books. The names spun and the last fight had arrived.

 **Sabaku no Gaara vs Rock Lee**

 **(SAME AS CANON, WINNER: Gaara)**

* * *

"Alright everyone line up and make a draw." Hayate said as all the genin went one by one.

"9" Gaara said.

"1" Kasumi said.

"7" Naruto said.

"Troublesome, 4" Shikamaru said.

"5" Shino said.

"3" Temari said.

"2" Neji said as Kasumi shot him a glare.

"8" Dosu said as he looked at Naruto with contempt in his eyes. 'I'll get one of you Uchiha for breaking Zaku's arm.'

"6" Kankuro said.

"And that leaves Sasuke Uchiha who is 10." Hayate said as he coughed into his hands a bit. "Okay the match are as follows.

Kasumi Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga – Match 1

Shikamaru Nara vs Sabaku no Temari – Match 2

Shino Aburame vs Sabaku no Kankuro – Match 3

Naruto Uchiha vs Dosu Kinata – Match 4

Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara – Match 5

"Any questions?" Hayate asked.

"Yeah will one of us have to fight an extra match?" Shikamaru asked.

"Probably." Hayate answered and Shikamaru groaned. Soon enough every genin exited the building.

"I gotta say," Asuma started "that kid is something. Making **Katon** jutsu with a single hand seal. That's exceptional."

"He can do much more." Kakashi said. "For now he held back."

"Anyways," Sarutobi started "you all know about the threat. Now go and keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior. Remember do not engage any enemies alone. I don't want my wayward student finding out we know." He got a round of 'Hai's and everyone scattered as Sarutobi stood alone.

'Things are going to change after this. The momentary peace between the villages will disappear if we lose.' Sarutobi thought alone.

* * *

Timeskip: One Hour Later

Location: Konoha Main Town

"Naru." Kasumi said with a nervous voice. "Are you still angry with me?" She asked as both of them walked through town. They had gone to Ichiraku's because well Kasumi was hungry and she had quite the amount. Naruto didn't say too many words and she was getting worried about whether it was because she didn't tell him about Kiba trying to harass her previously.

"Sumi." Naruto stopped as he said it and pulled her close to him as she had a flushed expression on her face. "I could never be angry with you. Besides, it was my fault in the first place. I…I shouldn't have left you like that for all those years. I overreacted and-"

"Only because I did it first." Kasumi cut him off. "I thought you'd be like one of those rich, pompous kids. I didn't know.. you were alone like me."

"Well now I'm not." Naruto said as the women around them were 'awwing' at the young couple. "And quite frankly, I hope I never leave you again."

"That's my line baka." Kasumi said. "So it's a promise."

"Yeah hah." Naruto said as he lightly pecked her on the lips. Then Kasumi did something unexpected.

"Can you carry me? I feel tired." Kasumi said with a lying tone. Then Naruto picked her up in a bridal carry in front of everyone. This was not what she wanted. "I-I meant on your back!"

"Sure you did." Naruto said as he jumped up from rooftop to rooftop. Kasumi was enjoying it alright. Then Naruto stopped. Kasumi looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Why did you stop?" Kasumi asked. Naruto motioned with his head for her to look forward. A man was sitting outside the Konoha Hot Springs. He was a rather tall man who, from the rear view, wore green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armour that is visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. He carried a large scroll on his back and he wore a horned forehead protector. He had long, white spiky hair tied into a pony tail. Naruto got down behind him as they both looked at the awkward scene. He had a handheld telescope with him as he looked deep into the steam emerging from the Hot Springs.

"Man the girls of Konoha are sure something!" He said out loud as he giggled perversely.

'Oh no.' Naruto thought as Kasumi got up and was cracking her knuckles. She then kicked the old man with full force as he flew into the bamboo wall as the girls screamed pervert and ran to hide their modesty. The man recovered and got up.

"Alright who has the balls?!" He asked and saw Kasumi standing there. For a moment he just stood there watching her as if he was seeing a ghost. Then all of a sudden he took out a note pad and was scribbling. "Yes! Yes! I think I found the new heroine for my books!"

"Oi Hentai!" Kasumi yelled as Naruto came up to her with a deadpan expression. "What the heck were you doing?"

"Oh I was doing research." The very well built tall man said. He had a red markings on his face under his eyes as the kanji for 'Oil' was on his forehead. "Now what were you thinking when you kicked me?!"

"HAH!" Kasumi said as she pointed a finger at the man. "You were peeping you weren't researching! Who the hell are you?!"

"Kasumi don't!" Naruto said fearing the thing would happened. Another famous incident he did not want to witness. Particularly because he recognized who the person was.

"I'm glad you asked." The man said as he made hand seals and slammed his hand on the ground. Smoke engulfed the area as kabuki instrument noises were seemingly coming out of nowhere as the smoke cleared to reveal a larger than normal toad sitting down in front of them as the man ridiculously hopping around with one hand forward and one hand extended backward.

"I am the man that makes the men of Kenso no Kuni shiver with fear and women quiver with insatiable lust. The greatest shinobi who ever lived in history. A man whose skills are unrivaled. A legend both on the battlefield and in the bedroom. I am the Toad Sage of Mt. Myoboku. I am the Gallant, Jiraiya!"

* * *

 **And woah bro! Done with Chapter 18. Phew. This chapter took me awhile, plus it's the longest I've ever written for the Uchiha Prodigy.**

 **22K+ Words!**

 **Did you know I had to rewrite this chapter four times?!**

 **Imagine sitting in front of the computer and having to rewrite nearly 7000 words in four different ways. Anyways, I guess this is it for this chapter. Oh and before you start, don't even think about reprimanding me once calling Guy Guy or Gai. Both are acceptable, cause they are one and the same. So please don't bring that up.**

 **Ok so a lot of people are going to complain about the whole Kiba being a bit rapey thing. Complain or approve, I do not care. That needed to happen, and pain was the only way he would learn his lesson. As for the fight with Kabuto, I did not feel like dragging it out unnecessarily, so I banked on Kabuto's arrogance which he had in spades back then and got him some severe burns.**

 **Naruto is going to play a large part against the Invasion. Trust me, not everything will go as canon as I said before. Oh and Jiraiya's finally here. So some comic relief is on its way. Also, I hope you guys noticed the change in Naruto. More precisely his colder side. Its there for a reason and it will play a large part in the story later on. So yeah, I guess that's pretty much it but there are two more things I want to say. And this may seem insignificant to some but I just have to say it.**

 **SoulReaperCrewe added ME his favorite authors list! ME! The guy who started back late in August and now I'm in one of my most favorite FF Writer's favorites list! GOOOODD! I screamed around like a girl when that happened. Some of you may say that I am 'fanboy-ing' out here but here me out. His story, "The Prodigy Namikaze" was the first story I ever read and he was the first author I added to my favs list. So, the whole thing kind of came full circle. YAY!**

 **Oh and the last thing I wanted to say.**

 **REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

 **Seriously they are very important in case if you haven't guessed it by now.**

 **That's all for today you guys. Until next time. Take care. Ja ne!**


	19. Transition of the Old Status Quo

**Hey guys! Glad to see that everyone is still giving such great support for the story. Remember how I told you that due to the website's loophole-ish fault that people thought I updated the story, whereas I had really deleted the Announcement Chapter, yeah a lot of people weren't able to give their reviews so instead they decided to PM me the reviews. I was so happy to see that you guys were so kind enough to do that and it really made me feel like that, "YES! People genuinely like this story!" Seriously, a great set of thank you to each and every one of you out there who have supported and liked the story so much**

 **I have to admit it does kind of feel weird to come all the way to chapter 19 and then hopefully, chapter 20 will be published in March. It's weird really, I mean this story started out in October and let's be honest here for a second, in the beginning this story was REALLLLY terrible! Starting from the overly used cliché plot of gender bending, to me creating an OC called Naruto Uchiha, the terrible storytelling and the very poor grammar (which hasn't improved much, and I can admit that). If I am to critical about it, I think the story got better after Zabuza got introduced. Ever since then, to me the story had a much smoother flow.**

 **So thank you to all the readers who have stuck with this story and let me tell you something in advance**

 **The Uchiha Prodigy doesn't have many chapters left. Yeah, I think there will be….around 10-15 chapters after chapter 20 at most. After that the sequel to the Uchiha Prodigy will be published which has been titled "The Legacy of Six Paths" and that story will basically deal with the Part II storyline of Naruto ,or as most of the world knows it as, the Shippuden Arc**

 **And now on to something new, I previously added some notes to my profile about a "Reading" announcement. I received some mail asking me doing "Reading" fanfics but unfortunately I really don't have that much free time contrary to my writing progress. I am just a very fast typist and whatever little time I get after coming home from the university and brushing up my studies, I use it to write the stories. Originally, the plan was to get Seal-sama (now known by the penname OP20) to do a "Reading" of either the Uchiha Prodigy or the Shinobi Mage but since, much to my sadness, he stopped writing and deleted all his stories that plan was kicked away**

 **I don't know why he stopped writing but it was probably due to lack of reviews and or flamers. Trust me sometimes flamers say things that really want to make you stop writing. Take KamiKageRyuuketsu for example, I blocked him alright. Then a few days ago I received a flaming review from a guest, not so subtly, named Ryuuketsu to criticize my story for no particular reason. Hey I can take criticism when it makes sense but that was absolutely pointless and the effort he put in to insult my work made me do this**

 **O_O**

 **That was my reaction**

 **If you want to say something negative about my story point out the flaws in it, just like Aquarius Dragon. Sure I mean he was harsh in his review, but he wasn't wrong in his jab. He was…no he is right. My grammar is terrible! But hey, I took it as incentive to improve and I am glad he outright broke the story down to point out my flaws. And for those looking to flame me for no good reason at all.**

 **FUCK POINTLESS FLAMERS!**

 **Anyways, since Seal-sama is not writing anymore, I am interested to do a reading story on the Uchiha Prodigy or the Shinobi Mage. I thought a lot about it and came to the conclusion that since he isn't around I guess I could do it myself. So if a reading story does come out, it will do so in the Unpredictable Story Week or I could even let another author take it over. Until then, let's go to the disclaimer that keeps reminding me of my failures**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION.**

 **NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY TV TOKYO, STUDIO PIERROT, VIZ MEDIA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO.**

 **PLEASE SUPPORT AND REVIEW THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

* * *

Location: Outside Konoha Onsen, Main Town, Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni, Kenso no Kuni. 

Naruto Uchiha stood there not sure how exactly he should react to this…..whatever that the white haired man just did. First of all, his outrageous claims about his own proclamations really made the blue eyed Uchiha reevaluate his opinion of the Densetsu no Sannin. The first one he met was a man who was looking to take over his body and was a potential pedophile given how Kasumi kept describing Orochimaru 'biting and licking teme's neck with his mouth'. The second one was rumored to be a legendary pervert if not THE legendary pervert in Konoha and his opening act served as irrefutable proof that statement. He was not sure about the third one, but knew that there had to be some issue with her as well.

The younger brother of Shisui shuddered to think what the third was like but at this point he had significantly lowered his opinion about them. Sure they were undoubtedly strong and right now, they could probably bury him into the ground as he is right now. Then again, he did have the Mangekyou Sharingan and that alone was a game changer even if it was for a few moments. He would have to train with it even more since he holds the **Kamui / Authority of the Gods** now. But too much usage will result in deteriorated vision and then blindness at one point. However, that line of thought was derailed as Kasumi shook his arm a bit.

"Naru!" Kasumi said as she tugged on his jacket sleeve and Naruto looked at her with an obviously surprised look.

"Oh, sorry. I tuned out again." Naruto said and Kasumi pouted at him and he couldn't help but find her adorable at that moment. She was even doing that little pose where she put her hands on her hips. The small specks of red on her cheeks only made it that much cuter. He chuckled a bit and she poked his chest with her finger as she began to speak again. "You really need to stop doing that. And can you believe the gall of this pervert?!"

"Hah!" the white haired Sannin said with a haughty expression as if someone had insulted him. He then raised his hands in a dramatic motion before he began to speak. "You insult me by calling me a pervert, you little girl." He then paused and took a deep breath in.

"I'm not just a pervert." Jiraiya paused for a moment before his hands were making wiggly like motions as he spoke again. "I'M A SUPER PERVERT!" He screamed out loud and the teen couple stared at his outrageous proclamation with deadpan expressions as their frames turned completely white with shock.

Jiraiya then sent the toad back to his Summoning Plane before he came forward and looked down at the two. Jiraiya of the Sannin was a significantly tall man, much taller than Kakashi and this made Naruto feel a bit like a child under the Sannin's vision. He was looking at Naruto and Kasumi and the way she was tugging at his sleeve. He then giggled a bit and both teens' eyebrows twitched at the giggle as he began to write down in his little notepad again.

"Oh man this is gold!" he said. "Forbidden love at young age. People are just going to eat it up."

"Why you-" Kasumi said but Naruto held her back as he tried to stop Kasumi from unleashing her fury on him. "Let me go Naru! This perv's crotch has an appointment with my foot!" Even Naruto winced from the thing she just said.

"Calm down Sumi." Naruto said and she stopped for a bit but was mumbling something. Deciding to capitalize on this, he used his trump card. "Say, how about you go Ichiraku's I'll be there in a while."

"Huh? Weren't we going back to our house?" Kasumi asked as she tilted her head a bit and Naruto smiled sheepishly. Now Jiraiya yelled up all of a sudden with a shit eating grin on his face.

"You two live together as well?!" Jiraiya exclaimed with sheer happiness as he kept jotting down more points. "Man. My next novel is gonna be a-WHA!" Jiraiya couldn't finish as Kasumi firmly planted both of her feet on his face making him fly back as he kept rolling over before colliding against a concrete wall.

"Hentai." Kasumi said as she looked at Naruto who sighed at her behavior. "As I was saying before, weren't we going to our house?"

"Well, yes. But, I need to speak with Jiraiya-sama first." Naruto said as he pointed to the clearly unconscious Jiraiya.

"NANI?!" Kasumi yelled out in shock. "Why? I mean, why would you to talk to him?! And about what exactly?!"

"Well, it's kind of about a jutsu. And clearly you're going to break his face every time he says something perverted which he will do as sure as you're born, so it will be better if you have some ramen first." Naruto said and Kasumi sighed. She then walked up close to him. Naruto mentally noted that she had gotten a little taller than before. Of course he had grown taller too.

"Fine, but the second you're done you come over okay?" She asked and Naruto nodded with a smile. "Okay I'll be going then." Kasumi said before she came close and pecked him on the lips before leaving. Naruto stared at her retreating form while he shook his head. He then went near Jiraiya and stood over the man with his arms crossed.

"Jiraiya-sama, are you alright?" Naruto asked a bit nervously. Kasumi Uzumaki really did not know the meaning of the word 'restraint' and that double kick looked pretty serious. Well if the blood flowing out of Jiraiya's nose was any proof that is. He saw the Toad Sage get up slowly as he stretched a bit. Naruto could see the man wasn't faking the cramp, as cracking noises came each time he stretched a bit. Then the white haired happuri wearing shinobi looked at Naruto with a closer look.

"Say, you look kind of familiar. Have I seen you before?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto shook his head lightly.

"I doubt that Jiraiya-sama. I think I'd remember the event where I met a Sannin." Naruto said and Jiraiya was still observing his facial features as he tried to figure out where he had seen him before. "You probably might know my parents. Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha."

"Ah, that's right!" Jiraiya said with a wide smile all of a sudden. "Genjuro that was the brat's name. And Satsuki, yeah I remember her. The Blue Eyed Illusionist. Last time I saw them they just got promoted to jounin. So, you must be their youngest kid."

"Hai, my name is Naruto Uchiha. It's an…honor to meet you." Naruto said as he bowed his head a little out of respect. At first he was going to say, it was very awkward meeting him but at the last moment Naruto changed it to honor. The only reason why Naruto did not refer to Jiraiya as a pervert was because he was respected one of the most powerful shinobi in the world. He was also the Summoner for the Toads and was the man who taught the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze himself.

"Right, I know it's a little late but my condolences to you. I never really was around for anything and I kind of knew the brats, Genjuro more so than Satsuki." Jiraiya said as he closed his eyes for a bit. Naruto nodded at Jiraiya and the Toad Sage had opened his eyes once more. "So, why are you still here gaki? I thought you'd be long gone with your girlfriend."

"Because there is something we need to talk about." Naruto said with a completely emotionless face as Jiraiya got a little creeped out by that look on the young genin's face.

Scary, that's what that expression on his face was and the fact that his eyes were icy blue right now did not help. Make no mistake, Jiraiya of the Sannin was not afraid of this boy. Far from it, he knew he could probably make the gaki shit himself by applying some methods but what was scary was the dead set expression of his face that had an air of authority around him and was letting off the feelings that Jiraiya had often gotten from more veteran shinobi. And that is what made the expression on his face scary. Of course, there was another reason why he agreed to talk to the young Uchiha, but that was a personal reason and he would not say it unless it was necessary.

"About what gaki?" Jiraiya said trying to see what the blue eyed boy had in store for him with his answer. "I have a lot of important research to do."

"The new edition of Icha Icha can wait. This problem however needs your help, Jiraiya-sama." Naruto said as Jiraiya looked at the raven haired boy with narrowed eyes. "It involves a certain snake I found. Completely white and was highly poisonous. It is also very hard to kill." He finished as Jiraiya looked at him widened eyes as Naruto showed no visible reaction.

"I see. Anything else worthy of catching your eye?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto looked at him for a while before he spoke up again.

"Yes, I also happened to see an aged monkey who noticed the whole thing and probably told his other friends about the white snake." Naruto said before he walked away and Jiraiya kept staring at the back of the young Uchiha.

'Damn youngsters today.' Jiraiya thought as he sat down and saw an eagle high in the sky. 'Well, I guess I should go meet sensei. Naruto Uchiha, huh?' The Toad Sage thought before he made three hand seals and disappeared slowly.

* * *

Ichiraku's Ramen, Main Town, Konohagakure no Sato.

"And that's pretty much it in a nutshell dattebayo!" Kasumi said before downing the broth and all the delectable goods in slurp. It had been seventeen minutes and thirty four seconds since she came to the ramen stand and six bowls have been lined up one atop the other as a tower of bowls formerly containing the starch based form of food had been gobbled up. Ayame for her part smiled at her pseudo younger sister.

"So, any particular reason why Naruto did that to this 'Glasses' guy as you so said it?" Ayame asked with a sweat drop. Honestly, she loves the girl with her heart, but sometimes she acts way too childish for her age. I mean who gives a person a nickname just in case they forget their real name. Then again that was a part of Kasumi's character. Absolutely no contempt towards anyone. Even towards those who insulted her or otherwise. Except when you go too far. Even Kasumi Uzumaki had a breaking point.

"I don't really know. At first everything was completely alright in the match. Naru was even holding back a good amount. Then when Glasses started fighting seriously, Naru just picked up the pace at a high rate. Honestly, Glasses must've been shocked at the sudden change in power. Wonder when I'll get to fight Naru at full strength." Kasumi said as she drank some water from her glass and Ayame looked at her with an amused smile.

"Kasumi-chan," Ayame started as the blonde haired girl looked at her "you want to fight your boyfriend? At full strength?"

"Hai dattebayo!" Kasumi said with a wide smile as she looked out at the Hokage Mountain. "My dream is to be the Hokage alright. But there is another dream I have and don't tell Naru, please?" Kasumi said with a pleading look and Ayame had already lost the fight.

"OK, fine. What is it?" Ayame asked and Kasumi spoke up with clear determination in her violet eyes.

"I…I want to stand beside Naru as an equal." Kasumi said with brutal conviction as Ayame continued to listen. "He's strong, really strong. And every time I think I am getting closer to his strength the gap between us keeps widening by large margins. He's always got one ace after the other in his sleeve and I'm not a genius like him. I have to work hard on each and everything a lot more times than he does. But he's always there to help me ,you know. He's always there to support me whenever something happens, so I kind of want to be as strong as him so that I can support him too. Is….is that weird Ayame-nee-chan?" She finished her statement with a question.

"Not at all Kasumi-chan." Ayame said as she looked at the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. "In fact, that's an amazing goal you have. If you ask me, it's a bit more important than being Hokage isn't it?"

"It kind of is." Kasumi said in a mumble. She was going to say something more but then the door slid open and someone came in. It was a woman, she had long, spiky, untamed brown hair, vertical slit-like pupils, elongated canine teeth and nails. She also has the clan fang markings on her cheeks as well as markings over her eyes and a dark shade of purple lipstick. She wears the standard outfit of a Konoha shinobi consisting of flak jacket and a black suit underneath with the sleeves rolled up and bandages around her legs. There was a very, very large dog with her which had an eyepatch over its left eye. On second thought it was more like a wolf. And the first thought that came into Kasumi's mind was:

'Did Kiba steal my **Sexy Jutsu**?! Nobody else knows about it except Naru! ' Kasumi thought. True, she had made that jutsu just to give a shocker to Naruto, and boy did it work. But back to the matter at hand. Either this was Kiba who mastered the **Sexy Jutsu** or, this was his relative. Probably his sister or mother. Nope, not his sister as she had seen her before. Hana was her name, if Kasumi remembered right so that probably meant that this was Kiba's mom.

"I heard that this place serves good ramen. Can I have one of your famous bowls of miso?" the Inuzuka woman asked.

"Of course, Inuzuka-san. But I'm afraid your little friend will have to stay outside." Ayame said as the one eyed dog, borderline wolf, looked at her with light glare before growling a bit when the woman looked at her canine partner. The dog nodded and left the stand as the woman sat down. "Please wait, I am going to go and make it now."

"I see, thank you." The Inuzuka woman said as Ayame disappeared from sight and Kasumi was saying nothing. The woman then spoke up as she was looking at Kasumi. "Hmm. So that explains it."

"Um, sorry? But, what explains what?" Kasumi said as she looked at the woman with the markings on her cheeks.

"Do you know who I am?" the woman asked.

"You're probably Kiba's mom. He looks a lot like you." Kasumi said and the woman gave her a toothy grin, not so indifferent from Kiba's.

"Well, aren't you a smart one. The name's Tsume Inuzuka. And my partner waiting outside is Kuromaru." Tsume said as a very, loud and affirmative bark came from the outside. "So I heard that you're the one who beat Kiba into the ground. Surprisingly Akamaru didn't get hurt as much as Kiba."

"Well, I was aiming for Kiba anyway. And besides, I hit them near about half the strength of that attack." Kasumi mumbled and the Head of the Inuzuka Clan looked at the blonde haired girl with widened eyes.

"They were bleeding quite a lot. Kiba more so than Akamaru. And that was about half the power in your sword attack?" Tsume asked and the Jinchuuriki nodded. Idly, Tsume thanked Kami that the girl held back otherwise Kiba would've most likely suffered from a mortal wound. Tsume always heard that Kiba was infatuated with a girl and always talked about her becoming the head of the Inuzuka Clan. Then he'd always talk about her _body_ of all things and Tsume herself had decked him in the face for that comment alone.

Seemed that Kiba had inherited one of his father's traits, a trait that needed to be stamped out. Thankfully, Hana was nothing like that. Hell, she was kinder than her own mother and much more level headed. Guess those were the perks of having a sensei beating decorum and calmness into you. Then Tsume remembered why she was really here and began to speak up once more.

"Listen, pup." Tsume began as Kasumi looked at her with innocent violet eyes. Just for a moment, guilt tore at the heart of the Inuzuka upon seeing the same shade of that color her friend once had. And in that rare moment, she faltered a bit as Kasumi looked at her with narrowed eyes and in that exact moment, Tsume Inuzuka pictured a younger girl minus the whisker marks and full blown crimson hair. They looked the one and the same.

"Look, um. Inuzuka-san." Kasumi said and felt really uncomfortable. She really did not want to use the whole 'san', 'sama', 'kun' or 'chan' for that matter. Unless it came to Naruto in one of their more, intense moments. Still, she had to behave properly and give the woman she respected. At least that's what Naruto told her when it came to meeting with superiors and other clan heads.

"I know you're angry about what I did to Kiba, but I'm not going to lie. He had it coming to him." There! She said it! To hell with proper decorum! She was Kasumi Uzumaki dattebayo! Since when did she care about proper tact and approach?! She bluntly told what she thought and would face the consequences head on. After all, that was the way she always solved problems. And she prepared for the shouting to come.

But instead she got a different reaction.

And those words brought the Inuzuka clan head out of her dazed state as she looked at the young teen once more. She chuckled a bit and then was laughing outright as Kasumi became confused at her behavior.

"Sorry!" Tsume cackled out as she finally stopped. "Excuse me for that. I just remembered an old friend who often used to talk like you. She even beat up boys who pestered her too much."

"She sounds like an amazing person! Is she here in the village?" Kasumi asked with hope. Finally a kindred spirit who believed in the same methods as her. Then she saw that a look of sadness had adorned the Inuzuka clan head's face. She knew that look didn't mean anything good.

"No. Unfortunately she died a long time ago." Tsume said and Kasumi looked a bit downcast. Honestly their resemblances and thought patterns were too terrifyingly alike. That is what made Tsume feel that much more horrible. Only a fool would not be able to recognize who the parents of this girl are. And those who were close to the girl's parents did try. They tried to adopt her but for more political sense, Kasumi Uzumaki was kept an orphan. The Third Hokage himself stated why she could not be adopted as there was a risk of her life and her real identity being exposed.

Plus, he also mentioned the fact that if a Jinchuuriki got adopted, that particular clan may absorb the unfiltered hatred of the village. But by the time the Third Hokage did have a change of heart towads the case of one Kasumi Uzumaki, the damage had been done and Kasumi refused any and all sorts of adoption claims. Tsume was shocked to hear that Kasumi stayed like that for all those years. However the more shocking news came when she learned that the daughter of her former friend had moved into the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Of course the first assumption was that she had moved into Sasuke's house, since he was always praised by the civilians for being the 'The Uchiha Heir', but much to her surprise she had moved in with Naruto Uchiha the pariah of the Uchiha Clan. Apparently she had been informed by the Hokage himself, that right now the boy was a chunnin promoted on the second day of the first task. He was the one who had brought information on Orochimaru and had a fully matured Sharingan.

Of course, she had also seen that match of his with Kabuto Yakushi, who was now under observation since he was thought to be an accomplice of Orochimaru, and she had to admit for a shinobi of his age he was skilled. He reminded her of younger versions of Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha. Yes, he definitely did fall in the category with those three and what made it even more surprising was the fact that he had hidden his skills from the entirety of the Shinobi Academy. But then again, deception was the name of the game and this kid was in with high stakes. He was also listed as a low possibility flight risk shinobi, but that had decreased even more since his revelation about Orochimaru. Kasumi had also improved in a deadly manner ever since moving in with him. Though, her skills with the sword did not come as a surprise. If genes were something to go by, seals were her thing too.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kasumi said with a dejected look. She had honestly thought she had found a great mind similar to hers.

"It's alright." Tsume said with a small reassuring smile. "Anyways, I wasn't here to scold you about beating up Kiba. Rather, I was here to apologize to you."

"Eh?" the only response that Kasumi was able to come up with upon hearing the words that Tsume said. "You're here to apologize to me. But, why? I mean I did slash Kiba with my katana."

"That is true, but it was also the Chunnin Exams where students have even died before when in a fight. Well, it happened often in our times." Tsume said as she remembered her genin days and Kasumi shivered at the sheer casualness with which she said it with. "As I was saying before I came here to apologize for my son's behavior towards you. All those years at the Academy, it shows I've only failed with him as a mother."

"Actually, I don't think you failed as a mother." Kasumi said as she put her hand on her chin while Tsume looked at the blonde haired girl. "If you did fail then, Hana-nee-chan would also turn out like that. And she seems to be nice person. I mean, when we did all those D Ranks at your kennels she was always happy and smiling towards us."

"Don't get me started on that girl. She's too kind for her own good." Tsume said with a grin that Kasumi mirrored. "You know, I honestly expected you to do a whole lot more damage to him and from what you told me you could've. So my question is this, why didn't you?"

"Kiba, is…..well he's frustrating. But he's also a Konoha shinobi. And one of the first things that Kakashi-sensei taught us was that those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. So even if Kiba did that, I still wouldn't go so far as to hurt him on a permanent basis. Can't say the same about Naru though." Kasumi finished and hoped that the last murmured part wasn't heard by Tsume. Unfortunately she was wrong.

"Oh really?" Tsume said as she looked at the young Uzumaki with a closer look. "Must be nice having a boyfriend like that taking care of you."

"Hai." Kasumi said the last part with some pink in her cheeks. Damn her stupid feelings! She couldn't even hide the fact that she was blushing right now.

"Anyways, I guess I want you to accept my apology pup. And don't worry, I'll make sure that Kiba gets a very _proper_ punishment." She muttered the last part in an almost silent growl which made even Kasumi shiver from the tone she used. Seems that Kiba was going to be in for more than he asked for. Then someone else came in the stand and it was none other than Naruto Uchiha who had his blank look pat down on his face. He looked over at Tsume Inuzuka and bowed his head a bit.

"Inuzuka-san." Naruto said as he brought his head back up to his usual level. "It has been some time."

"Yes it has, pup." Tsume said as she looked at the blue eyed Uchiha. Honestly, it was hard to believe that a kid from the same generation as Kiba could be this strong and level headed. Right now he was a chunnin, and was one of the key players in repelling the invasion. "Haven't seen you since the whole Council meeting. Have to say though, loved what you did to those stupid merchant civilians."

"They were simply putting their noses where it didn't belong." Naruto said with no visible emotion at all, but Tsume could catch up on the distaste with which he spoke. The Kyuubi attack did leave the Village Hidden In the Leaves a bit crippled and she knew that without the money the merchants had provided back then, rebuilding would've been a bit harsh on their budget. Still, the bastards actually took advantage of the whole thing and it took years for the Hokage to get his rightful power back. The boy did not seem to care for them at all. Not that he was cold, he simply didn't care too much for them.

"Ah, Naruto you're here. Here you go, Inuzuka-san." Ayame said as she placed the bowl of miso ramen in front of Tsume. She then moved to the counter as Naruto took out a couple of bills of ryo from his pocket. "You know, you don't have to pay for her all the time."

"Ayame-nee-san, I know exactly how much ramen Sumi can eat." Naruto said with a grave serious tone. "In fact, I am quite surprised your stall hasn't closed down due to the fact of her having free meals every now and then."

"Naru! Not you too!" Kasumi whined out as Naruto looked at her with an obvious look while he handed Ayame the bill. "Fine, fine. But I didn't eat that much ramen."

"You ate six bowls of ramen. Which means no ramen for a week." Naruto said and suddenly Kasumi hung by his neck as he was struggling to maintain his balance. He then finally got her off as Tsume was chuckling at their behavior. Naruto sighed. 'Great, the Inuzuka Matriarch saw me, the guy who fed intel on Orochimaru being mushy like that. I have a reputation to maintain.'

"We'll see you later, Ayame-nee-san." Naruto said to the daughter of Teuchi as he turned towards Tsume and spoke up, "Inuzuka-san, I hope you will do something about Kiba later on. I also expect him to apologize to Kasumi later on."

"Don't worry about that husky." Tsume said and Naruto's eyebrow nearly twitched at that comment. "Kiba will get his just desserts. I hope to see how well you and your _friend_ do at the finals."

'It's because I have blue eyes isn't it?' Naruto said in his own mind as he remembered the earlier nickname he was given. He even ignored the obvious jab at his girlfriend.

"I see. Thank you Inuzuka-san." Naruto said as he exited the stand and Kasumi looked at the female Inuzuka.

"Right, see you later Kiba's mom. Make sure not to hurt Kiba too bad, I don't want his ninja career to end too quickly." Kasumi said as she scurried out of the stand while Tsume chuckled a bit more.

"You know, I hate some of the laws sometimes." Tsume said as she looked at Ayame who knew what the female Inuzuka was talking about. "It's one thing to not talk about big and furry, but it's another completely thing to deny that girl her right."

"Yes." Ayame said as she took the set behind the counter as the ramen cooking girl remembered a red haired woman often coming in and tasting different sorts of ramen just as enthusiastically as Kasumi did. She then smiled a bit as she spoke once more, "Still, Kasumi-chan is happy right now. And I guess things worked out after all."

"I guess they did." Tsume said as she slurped more of the starch based food. "You know, I don't usually eat ramen but your store has a better quality of it than I ever tasted. Any chance, you can tell me the secret?"

"Not a chance." Ayame said with a smug smile as Tsume shook her head.

* * *

Timeskip: One Hour

Location: Hokage Tower

Hiruzen Sarutobi was smoking his pipe as he finished his last stack of paperwork, though he was sure that more would eventually pop up from somewhere. He wasn't sure why even simple formalities even took such great stacks of paper. He sighed as he felt the presence of another person in the room. The signature of the intruder chakra was on the window and only one person would only ever show up by his window. He released a final puff of smoke before he turned towards the window with a small smile. Among all his students, he had taught Orochimaru the most. He was his prized pupil, the genius who had the potential to surpass his sensei. But his darker deeds prevented him from reaching that state and his obsession with jutsu of nearly every sort had driven his mind into the ground.

Tsunade Senju was an amazing kunoichi herself, but she also was the heiress of the Senju Clan. She had her clan techniques to master and had even become the pioneer in **Iryou Ninjutsu / Medical Ninjutsu** , her proficiency was such that standard team placements consisted of a medic nin with them at all times, and Konoha wasn't the only Hidden Village that adopted this method. The other Hidden Villages also made it a standard practice. She was also famous for legendary strength and her risky jutsu known as **Creation Rebirth**.

However, she was not without her own set of faults. The death of her brother and lover had made her develop a fear of blood and she had left the village while exercising her Sannin Rights to freely travel. She had not set foot in the village for more than fourteen years. The last time she arrived was after the Kyuubi attack after there was a dire need of her skills. Even then she didn't stay long and she refused to do any major operations. She did coordinate the whole effort though. When she asked about Kushina Uzumaki, the last known direct relative of the Senju Clan she was informed that she died and had no living heir. Seeing no further purpose to stay she left.

That last bit of action that the Hokage took was from his fellow 'Advisors' as they were called. Hiruzen Sarutobi more or less knew that he had a lot to answer for to two people in the afterlife. And now finally the last person of his three legendary students was here.

"Jiraiya, when are you going to start using the door?" Hiruzen asked as he looked at the white haired man who was sitting on the ledge while he smiled at his age old sensei.

"Never. Only gallant shinobi use the windows for entrance, only boring shinobi enter through the windows." Jiraiya said as he was sitting in his most comfortable posture. His back leaned against the narrow wall as he crossed his arms while gazing at the Hokage Monument. Hiruzen sighed as he looked at Jiraiya doing what he did most of the time as he sat down on the window ledge.

Out of all his students, Jiraiya was the one Sarutobi had the most doubts and problems with. His overall shinobi skills were less than zero, he was the dead last of his batch to the extent where he was even considered to be dropped from the program entirely. But Jiraiya had one thing that neither of his students had. Jiraiya had a never giving up attitude that neither Orochimaru's various range of jutsu nor Tsunade's super strength could match. Ever since, Jiraiya screwed up in one of the hand seals while making the **Summoning Jutsu** his life had turned for the better and grew up to be the only Sannin that was absolutely loyal to the village to the point where he had been offered the mantle of Hokage but refused it outright as this honor later went to Jiraiya's own student Minato Namikaze. And now in a dire time of need, Jiraiya had shown up.

"Well, I did try. ANBU leave us." Sarutobi said to the four stationed ANBU of Squad Sigma, his own personal guard squad as they remained obscured perfectly at the four ceiling corners of the room.

"Hai Hokage-sama." The four ANBU said simultaneously as they left the room and stood outside the room. Two stood near the door and two on the roof, as they stared out of their monotonous masks while their gazes scoured every inch their vision allowed them to see. Protecting the Hokage was their primary and most important mission, their lives were paltry compared to the Sandaime's. Well, in their minds anyway. Staying in ANBU instills a deep bond with the village, and their very willingness to go so far for the village is what made them look akin to mindless drones to the common people. They are the true elites of the village.

Jiraiya noted their positions and just like each time he was impressed with Squad Sigma's positioning. He came down before he closed the sliding window and much to his surprise, his sensei had even activated the **Silencing** and **Privacy Seals**. Jiraiya knew that the old man wasn't kidding around when he did this action. And the kid he met earlier today. His words were too deadly to be true. He was now sure that Orochimaru was indeed in the village. How did that kid know about Orochimaru? The Toad Sage had a lot of questions and it seemed that his sensei held these answers.

"How have you been Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked. Though he had a small smile on his face, the white haired Sannin could clearly see the hardened expression in his eyes. The Professor was in full swing and was probably very cautious at the moment. He hadn't seen him this cautious since the Battle of the Kannabi Bridge. The war had ended with that battle but there were still threats that Iwa or Kumo could pull off during those times.

"As good as I can be. I hope you're fine too sensei. And since I've known you long enough to know that look on your face, I can pretty much guess that something bad is going down." Jiraiya said as a frame of seriousness embedded on his face.

"Yes. It seems that Orochimaru has returned and is planning an invasion with Sunagakure and Otogakure." Sarutobi said not even bothering to mince his words. The sooner Jiraiya knew the better. He was glad that Jiraiya had sent a letter the week prior stating that he would be returning to the village for some time. Apparently he had uncovered some rather disturbing news that was not only harmful to the village, but affected Jiraiya, much to his shame, on a personal level too. Jiraiya sighed a bit after hearing the information. His old teammate was truly irredeemable now. To try and bring down the Village you grew up in. It was truly a shame that Jiraiya could not even begin comprehend.

Where did Hiruzen Sarutobi go wrong? Sure, Jiraiya was a pervert but he had his priorities straight at the end of the day. Tsunade had major emotional issues that she was 'coping' with by gambling and drinking. But, Orochimaru had done human experimentation, killed civilians to exhume their corpses for research and now he had planned an invasion to take out the one place from where he was born. Truly, what a tragic turnout of a shinobi he turned out to be.

"So we have to worry about both Suna and Oto. Though, the last part wasn't surprising since Otogakure was a shady village to begin with." Jiraiya said as he furrowed his eyebrows and pinched the bridge of his nose. Seems that his little planned vacation had taken a turn for the worse, his luck didn't seem to be improving too much nowadays. Then he before he could speak his sensei, the Sandaime Hokage spoke up.

"Yes, about that." Sarutobi said and Jiraiya waited for his sensei to speak more about whatever he was going to talk about next. "Otogakure was founded by Orochimaru himself. Apparently he usurped power from the Daimyo of Land of Rice and had it renamed Land of Sound. And that's not the only problem we have. Yondaime Kazekage Rasa is dead. Orochimaru is currently masquerading as the Kazekage and has decided to use the day of the finals to enact his plan. The fact that the Ichibi Jinchuuriki is here doesn't make things any easier." Sarutobi finished and Jiraiya had visibly slumped at the words he heard. It still amazed the Sandaime how Jiraiya would still act like a genin sometimes. But this cheerful mood of his was a rather refreshing joy if he was to be honest.

"I really thought that I would be spending some quality time here in the village this time without any sort of problems. And now we have to fight both Orochimaru's village and Suna. We can't even tell them that their leader is dead. I was really looking forward to just relaxing and 'researching' for new material on my new book." Jiraiya said as he giggled a bit. Even Sarutobi perked up a bit inwardly when he heard about the new book. Hiruzen Sarutobi was also an avid reader of Jiraiya's stories. Not just the smut parts of his story, the Toad Sage did put in a lot of effort in the story too. Developed his characters and the plot used to be progressed at a good rate. But the smut factor of those books was….well let's say it gave a very _clear_ image in the reader's mind. Moving his mind away from his personal, part time hobby he looked at Jiraiya and spoke once more.

"Is that all, Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asked. Only someone who knew the Sandaime for long enough knew that the tone he used was not that of the Hokage's.

Rather this was the same tone that Hiruzen Sarutobi had often used when they were often alone. Jiraiya's parents had died when he was a child. He really did not have anyone to look up to after his mother died when he was six, his father had previously died when he was four. He came from a family of civilians. It was then that he was admitted into the Shinobi Academy by Sarutobi himself after he witnessed the boy fighting off four boys twice his age with nothing but brute strength and sheer guts. That was more than enough for the then young Sandaime to take an interest in the orphaned white haired boy. Despite graduating as a dead last, Sarutobi took it upon himself to train the boy properly. That boy's determination was an embodiment of the Will of Fire that was so revered here in the village. Sure he was by far the clumsiest shinobi Sarutobi had seen at that age, but he improved by leaps and bounds.

And now, here sat in front of his sensei all grown up and famous throughout the lands of Kenso no Kuni as one of the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha. Shinobi of foreign villages tended to avoid fighting Jiraiya at all costs and his rather intricate Spy Network had helped Konoha more times than he could count. They even gave reports on unsanctioned ANBU, Leaf ANBU, no less were often seen operating in rather controversial actions. Seriously Danzo Shimura was turning out to be a thorn nowadays in Sarutobi's side. And his patience was at his limits now. Sooner or later, Danzo Shimura would be at the end of Sarutobi's wrath.

"Not really." Jiraiya said with a small smile and the guilt in his eyes could be seen clear as day. He then got up from his seat and walked towards the western wall of the room and stared up at the four portraits. The portraits of those who became Hokage had their pictures taken as they wore the ceremonial robes when their pictures were taken. True, Jiraiya was offered the position of Hokage before but he refused it immediately. He stated that it was not his style and he would rather be a travelling shinobi that helped his village than stay cooped up here in the office. He looked at all the pictures from the left to the right as they showed the chronology of Konoha's leaders.

Hashirama Senju. The First Hokage and to this day the most powerful shinobi recorded in human history. His prized **Kekkei Genkai** was one that no one his clan inherited. The **Mokuton** was the only thing other than the Sharingan that could hold down Tailed Beasts and Lord First was said to have 'tamed' them through this. The only rival he ever had was Madara Uchiha. Their battle's remainder remains to this day and even now the Shinobi of Konoha are carrying out his will. The Will of Fire.

Tobirama Senju. The Second Hokage. Said to be the most powerful **Suiton** user as his ability to draw out the very water molecules from the moisture of the air was also reputed to be the fastest shinobi of his time. He also made the certain charter laws for Konoha which are still in effect today and a lot of the team placements, standard shinobi protocols were noted down by him. He was also the founder of the ANBU while setting up the Academy with its standards. Although those had changed since it was peace times now.

Then Jiraiya's eyes fell on the younger portrait of his sensei. Seeing the younger version of his sensei made even the Toad Sage feel old as he watched the Sandaime's portrait, where his hair was still brown and there were no wrinkles on his face. The beard on his chin was still brown and the marks under his eyelids were shorter. Things used to be so much simpler back then when Jiraiya was young. It was all about trying to outshine Orochimaru and trying to impress Tsunade. Then he got summoned to Mt. Myobokuzan and was told of the Prophecy by the Elder Toads. He then searched for 'Peace' throughout the lands. What the word really meant and if the shinobi world could ever truly attain something like peace. He also kept the Child of Prophecy in the back of his mind all the time. At first he thought it was his student Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan. He had died according to his intel along with his other companions Yahiko and Konan when their group were ambushed by Hanzo the Salamander no less. Then he thought it would be his next student. And on cue, his eyes wandered off to the next frame.

Blonde hair, blue eyes and a face he knew all too well. Minato Namikaze. His apprentice ,the Fourth Hokage. The man who was hailed as a prodigy. His greatest success, and a constant reminder of Jiraiya's greatest failure to his own student. The Fourth Hokage did indeed look up to Jiraiya as the Toad Sage was something of a father figure to the orphaned Namikaze. He forged his skills with his own two hands and was even named godfather for his child who wasn't even born. Instead, Jiraiya listened to his sensei and the Elders about not revealing the truth behind the child of his apprentice and Kushina Uzumaki. He remembered how he had lied to Tsunade about Kushina's child dying. Since Kushina used to live in the Senju Compound when she was young Tsunade had developed a rather fond spot for the red headed Uzumaki. The lie was told, at a great personal expense. However, that was not the greatest dirty deed that Jiraiya had done.

He had essentially, in every sense of the word, abandoned his godchild. He abandoned the child he was supposed to take care of if something happened to the parents of said child. Today, for the first time in his life he had laid eyes on that child. She had stood in front of him today and Jiraiya's years of training while keeping up a mask of indifference, to not show emotions had nearly crumbled upon the mere sight of that child. She looked just like Kushina did. The same facial structure, looks, her eyes, the shape of her eyes and her hair was smooth just like her mother's. However, the real added blow to her was when he saw the color of her hair. The same sun kissed blonde hair that Minato had and there were some streaks of red there, but overall there was no doubt that Kasumi Uzumaki was the child of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. And to restrain his guilt from not showing itself, he did the next best thing: he took out his notepad and pretended that he was doing this for his research.

Of course the rushed dropkick on his face was well deserved in his mind. No…..it really wasn't enough. Truth was that he did not want to get up after getting hit like that. But lo and behold, the boy who was with Kasumi had recognized Jiraiya right off the bat and was standing near him, waiting for him to get up. That brat was none other than Genjuro and Satsuki's boy. He remembered the little runt Obito as he was under Minato's charge but died in the battle of the Kannabi Bridge while entrusting one of his Sharingan to Kakashi Hatake, Minato's only living student. As for Shisui, that kid was more famous than Itachi was until the massacre. He remembered his spies telling him how the Hidden Mist stopped their raids in the Land of Fire because of one Shunshin no Shisui. And this was probably the youngest of the three, Naruto Uchiha as he had introduced himself. From their talk alone, it was clear that Naruto was in some sort of relationship with his goddaughter and he did feel like making some threats. But another voice inside his head spoke.

'What right do you have threatening him after you abandoned your own goddaughter?'

And Jiraiya was going to say something else but the boy…that emotionless expression on his face was something that put you on guard. Absolutely no cracks on that face, all that was seen was a bored expression that made Jiraiya feel wary about him. He was also the person who told him about a certain 'snake' and the fact that a 'monkey' knew about it. The boy had indeed met Orochimaru or at the very least had seen Orochimaru and he knew that the Hokage knew about it. What was all that about? And did Kasumi play a role in all this? The last thought brought him back to his original train of thought.

"I failed didn't I, sensei?" Jiraiya asked as his gaze was fixed on the portrait of the Fourth Hokage.

"You're not the only one who failed. We all did." Hiruzen said as he too looked at the portrait from his seat. He had not even bothered to tell Kasumi about her parents.

He remembered when she was seven and had asked about her parents. He remembered telling her not to ask about things that wouldn't change anything. He kept telling himself that it was to protect her, so that other villages wouldn't find out that the Yellow Flash and the Crimson Slasher did not have a child. After sometime he realized he was lying to her and she was going down the wrong path, but Naruto Uchiha had changed that. He does not know the full story but based on what he heard from Ayame Ichiraku, the daughter of Teuchi who informed the Hokage upon the true nature of their relationship, the relationship was solid and neither of the two teens were happier before.

"True. But we could've done something about it. Why did we listen to those friends of yours in the first place? I saw her today for the first time. She looks just like Kushina used to at her age. She even behaves like her mother but she has Minato's hair color. I…..I really couldn't even speak to her without pulling off a stupid act." Jiraiya said as the guilt in his voice did nothing to hide itself. He had failed, there was no excuse. Jiraiya was a terrible excuse of a godfather.

"You thought you failed? Jiraiya I couldn't even stop the stupid civilians from publicly harassing her. Always calling her names like 'Demon Brat', 'Cursed Bitch'…. And I who was revered as a monster in battle couldn't do anything because of the red tape of bureaucracy in this village. True, right now the Civilian Council doesn't have much power now but this all happened and I let it happen. If only we knew what went wrong that night, then maybe….maybe Minato and Kushina….along with Biwako could've been alive. Even the ANBU that night were found dead. Just what happened that resulted in Kyuubi getting freed from Kushina." Hiruzen said out loud as he smoked the pipe while sitting in his chair.

"There was no way the seal on Kushina had failed. Someone must've broken it as we assumed and set the Nine Tails on the Village. All things point out to someone either having the **Mokuton** or the Sharingan. Since no one else had control over **Mokuton** to that extent, all clues led to the Uchiha Clan. And now all of them are dead too. Well, except three of them." Jiraiya said as he moved away from the portrait. He sat down as pushed his grief aside for the moment. He wanted to talk about the Uchiha boy since that topic came up. "Sensei, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked as he too had returned to his normal self. He had a village to save. He would make it up to Kasumi later on.

"It's about a boy I met. He was with Kasumi. His name was Naruto Uchiha and he said his parents were Genjuro and Satsuki Uchiha." Jiraiya said as his sensei suddenly had a small smile on his face, which Jiraiya would question his teacher about later. "He was also with Kasumi the whole time. Apparently they were going back to their house. Could you tell what that was all about?" Hiruzen looked on as his student finished while the smile never left his face.

"Let's see. Where should I start from?" Sarutobi said as he then found his beginning overture. "Yes, it was after the Academy began….."

* * *

Underground ROOT Base, Konohagakure no Sato.

Danzo Shimura was having a headache at the moment. Kabuto Yakushi had been admitted to the Hospital and was under heavy surveillance at the moment. There was something about the whole situation he was not liking right now. He had taken Kabuto in a long time ago when he was but a mere child. That boy was a product of ROOT and was one of the shrewdest people that the Shinobi of Darkness had ever met. However, his greatest flaw was his arrogance much like his master Orochimaru. He had underestimated the Uchiha boy and had paid the price with burn marks all over his body. He had even escorted Orochimaru's forces throughout the underground tunnels that he had built a long time ago in case he needed to escape. All of them were now housed under his protection and if the Hokage found out then he would be executed for treason, no questions asked.

His thoughts went over to his former teammate. Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had already used the **Kotoamatsukami / Distinguished Heavenly Gods** on Hiruzen to make sure that he did not get killed for the Uchiha Clan Massacre he had sanctioned and now the ability was useless for another two years. It seemed that Shisui Uchiha was the only one who could freely use that move. He could not become Hokage, not as long as Hiruzen lived. The Monkey would always find a way to outsmart Danzo in the end as he had done so many a times in the past. Seeing no option left he had agreed to Orochimaru's suggestion of an invasion. True, a lot of people would die but from the ashes a new tree would be born as the roots of a newer strength would bloom.

Dominance of the Leaf was much more important than anything else. To Danzo Shimura, the ends always justify the means. He had seen how Uzushiogakure was gaining strength and soon enough there would be Six Great Villages instead of Five. Sooner or later, the Uzumaki Clan would probably end up betraying them so Danzo sold out the secrets of their barriers to Kumo, Iwa and Kiri. Uzushiogakure got destroyed and that was one potential threat out of the way. Then he had tried to kidnap the previous Jinchuuriki when he had fed info to Kumogakure about a full blooded Uzumaki in the village. Minato Namikaze had stopped his plans when he was nothing more than a genin brat.

When the Kyuubi attack happened, he had successfully fed misinformation among the village to turn the general populace against the Uchiha. How else could common civilians know that a Sharingan could control a Bijuu? They couldn't even tell the difference between a kunai and a scroll that held it. He had tried to convince Hiruzen to hand over Kasumi to him to 'mold' her as a weapon but the Monkey was adamant in his decision and Danzo had lost his chance in using the **Kotoamatsukami** for years then. To think that even in death Shisui Uchiha had left behind such a complicated transcription in his Mangekyou Sharingan.

And now his younger brother had created another problem. The question was how did Naruto Uchiha get so strong in such a short amount of time? He was just as talented as Shisui and Itachi were at his age. No, he was a tad bit better. He had seen the match between Naruto Uchiha and Kabuto. At first he was fighting like any genin should be, but even then Danzo knew that Naruto was holding back. He had heard about the reports of Naruto taking on Mangetsu Hozuki and emerging the victor, though the Uchiha consistently downplayed his victory repeatedly. He was also the one responsible for the large fire from the Forest of Death. By the time his ROOT agents had arrived to the Forest, Anko Mitarashi and another squad followed by more were already scouring the area for Orochimaru. Still, Danzo needed to know the exact amount of strength that Naruto Uchiha had and now his question would be answered.

"Is something wrong, Danzo?" a slithery voice asked as the veteran shinobi watched a certain person come into view from the obscuring darkness not so uncommon with all his hideouts. There in a Sound jounin uniform stood Orochimaru. The reason why Danzo was in cahoots with Orochimaru was because the two of them shared the same ideology that power was truly everything that was needed to remain invincible, and that idea was not far from the truth. To Danzo, Orochimaru was the only worthy student of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Snake Sannin may have been highly unethical in some of his experiments but the results spoke for themselves. He recreated the **Mokuton** through human experimentation and Kinoe, now known as Tenzou, was an example of that. Even Danzo's right arm which was made from the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju's cells had proven that in addition to the fact that he had implanted several Sharingan he had 'acquired' over the years in addition to Shisui's eye that was in his right ocular socket. In Danzo's warped mind, he was the only one capable of leading the village back to its former glory and now through the means of an invasion, a cleansing would take place that would bring in a greater era for the Hidden Leaf.

"I was wondering when you'd come here." Danzo said as he was sitting down in his chair. On his desk rested several papers that contained information about all his ROOT agents. Those papers would need to be destroyed soon. "Why did you bother to wait for entire stage of the Exams to finish before you came here?"

"Now now Danzo, let's not get so impatient here." Orochimaru said as he chuckled a bit at the Shinobi of Darkness. "I was merely there to inspect my vessel. Or rather, the better vessel I have yet to put my mark on. That Naruto Uchiha is truly dangerous. Even I wasn't that good when I was his age. To think he would have the Mangekyou and such proficiency over it too."

"Would you repeat that?" Danzo said not really believing what Orochimaru had just said. The boy…..Shisui's younger brother had awakened the Mangekyou and was good at using it? How could he not have any information regarding it? True, he had sent his ROOT ops to the Uchiha Clan Compound in the beginning after the Massacre to observe the behavior of the two remaining two Uchiha but they weren't showing any flight risk or rebellious tendencies. However, the real blow came three years ago when none of his ROOT agents could enter the Compound. Even Danzo couldn't. He remembered hearing from Itachi that the Uchiha Clan had a **Blood Recognition Seal** that didn't require a Level 10 Seal Master to activate. Only those of Uchiha blood could activate it and those with their permission could enter the Compound. It seemed that the barrier had been down but then it came back up three years ago.

All of a sudden, everything started to make sense. The **Blood Recognition Seal** , Naruto Uchiha getting stronger and activating the Mangekyou like his brother. He must've been the one to put up the seals as it only required a true blooded Uchiha to activate it. The brat had outplayed Danzo and was now living with the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no less. Naruto Uchiha was a much bigger headache than his brother and Itachi combined.

"You heard me." Orochimaru said. "That boy is the perfect vessel for me. But getting to him will not be easy as you yourself said that the Uchiha Clan Compound is off limits like the Senju Compound. Seems that the Oil and Water Clans had been exchanging notes when it came to protecting their Clan secrets."

"Are you saying that you didn't mark him in the Forest?" Danzo asked.

"Much to my shame, no. That boy even made me shed my skin. His Mangekyou is very different from what I've seen from Itachi's. Though his genjutsu isn't unbreakable to the scale that Itachi's are, that doesn't mean he is a slouch. He is also good at **Katon** , releasing a C Rank jutsu with only one hand seal. And then there are his Mangekyou abilities. The boy can summon black flames and let me tell you they are inextinguishable. But that's not the most worrying factor. It seems that Naruto Uchiha can dematerialize his body and let his enemies pass straight through him."

"….." Danzo said nothing as he absorbed the fact. This boy's eyes….they were truly fascinating. And a potential enemy should he decide to go rogue or rebel. He then spoke up. "You'll have to be more careful from here on out. Jiraiya has arrived in the village and we both know that if he fought seriously, he could even defeat you. And Hiruzen informed me and the others that you are currently in the village. And try not to make a move for any of the Uchiha yet. Otherwise, our plans will fail."

"Don't worry about that Danzo. Naruto-kun must've been the one who reported that. I am surprised that sensei hasn't done something about me yet. Perhaps, his wisdom is finally telling him to let things play out. Have you forgotten who I am?" Orochimaru asked with a sly grin. "As for Jiraiya, well let's hope that he hasn't been slacking off over the years. But how will you get Kabuto out? If he is taken to Ibiki, well even I don't think Kabuto will last forever against our resident sadist."

"Kabuto will be taken care of. He should be out of the hospital by tonight." Danzo said. "After all, it wouldn't be the first time I'd be helping you. But remember this, that Uchiha boy's Mangekyou should be delivered to me."

"Absolutely not." Orochimaru said completely denying Danzo his request. "You remember our bargain don't you? I kill Sarutobi and create an invasion. You and your ROOT forces gain the favor of everyone by fending off the invasions while you get the Ichibi effectively crippling Sungakure. And you have two Jinchuuriki all to yourself. Me? I didn't ask for much except a little alliance and the two Uchiha genin. Besides, you already have enough Sharingan with you."

"Do not think you can get away with everything Orochimaru." Danzo said as he narrowed his eye at the Snake Sannin who merely grinned.

"I bet you're wishing that you had **Kotoamatsukami** with you right now. But you forget Danzo, right now if we fight I would probably come out the victor as you're not really a perfect user of both the Sharingan or the **Mokuton**. And when we fight our forces will fight too. And we both know who will come out on top if that happens." Orochimaru said as Danzo scoffed inwardly. The snake was right. He had planned this part out well. But no matter, after the invasion even Orochimaru would have to be cut off.

'Soon. Everything will be changing soon.' Danzo thought as he watched the Snake Sannin walk out of the room with a satisfied smirk.

* * *

Timeskip: Dusk

Training Ground, Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

"Again." Naruto said as Kasumi looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. Naruto caught his girlfriend looking at him like that and knew she was trying to be angry. "Come on Sumi. You and I both know that you need a bit more practice with that jutsu."

"I know but still. Can't we just have today off?" Kasumi asked with a puppy like look and Naruto was having trouble to look at her like that. Sometimes, he really did not like how much control his girlfriend had over him. But he was glad to have her, right now he was losing the battle though.

"As much as I would love to spend some time with you other than training, we need to train that jutsu of yours at least one more time." Naruto said and Kasumi pouted before she stood up straight once more.

"Fine, but this is the last time." Kasumi said as she looked at her target. It was a large tree and she was moderating how much chakra she should use.

"Calm down and breathe steadily. You don't want to use too much chakra in this attack. Otherwise, you'll be facing a problem when you fight Neji. From what I can tell, he is far stronger than he lets on." Naruto said. Hinata was no slouch, but Neji was in a whole different league compared to her. Though, that was probably because Hinata really did not have it in her to harm her cousin in any major way. The blocking of tenketsu points was dangerous in a battle and even Naruto would have a hard time to move around after getting hit with the Gentle Fist style that the Hyuga use. Then he saw Kasumi going through the necessary hand seals before she stopped.

' **Fuuton: Kaze Bakahatsu'** Kasumi thought as she exhaled and a large ball of screeching wind formed before firing off at the tree and hit the trunk with a violent noise. There was a large circular indent in the rough bark of the tree as chunks of wood laid scattered around the place. Kasumi looked at the damage and was a bit proud. This was much better than the last result she got. Surely Naruto would be happier now.

"Not bad, but we need to work more on your time. The hand seals need to be done faster and judging from today's match, Neji isn't one to give you that chance." Naruto said as Kasumi swatted him on his arm.

"Would you lay off for today?" Kasumi said and was walking away. She turned around one last time and just for a moment she looked sad and hurt. "Something's wrong with you. Ever since your fight with Hebi-teme….you've been acting strange like you're hiding something. I'm going home." She said not even waiting for a response from Naruto who stood there alone.

'Maybe…I have been kind of an ass.' Naruto thought as he sat down for a moment and was alone in his secluded training ground. He simply thought about the Akatsuki. Ever since he found out, his mental focus had been wrung away from him. They were waiting….they were just waiting to take Kasumi away from him….The one reason he was happy again. He would never let them touch a single hair on her head while he was around, but just how far could he go at this current state? He needed to train. Train seriously and he needed help. He then felt the barrier around the Compound acting up as Naruto rushed to the entrance. The barrier was made by the Uchiha Clan in case a war time protocol order is issued. That was also one of the reasons they believed that they could be protected if the coupe d'état did take place. Kasumi had also felt it as she was allowed to stay here. Kasumi was the first to reach the gates and soon enough Naruto followed. They saw the person standing near the gate and he was annoyed.

"Oh….it's him again." Kasumi said with a deadpan expression. Honestly what was he trying to do?

"Yes, but why is trying to enter here?" Naruto asked as he saw Jiraiya literally punching the invisible wall only to get bounced back. Jiraiya then noticed the both of them and waved.

"Oh hey there brats." Jiraiya said. "Could you let me in? I don't have a place to stay."

"Go and stay at a hotel!" Kasumi yelled. "We don't allow super perverts here!"

"But, I am Sannin. That counts as something right?" Jiraiya asked with a dread filled voice.

"We also don't like Sannins! All of them are weird!" Kasumi said.

"Sumi, you really should-" Naruto was about to say more but Kasumi glared at him and he was honestly off put by the glare. It was….different from before.

"Hey kids! If you let me in I'll teach you guys some really handy techniques." Jiraiya said. "I'll even sweeten the deal with this." He said as he brought a familiar orange book and Kasumi's eyebrow twitched at the sight of this book.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kasumi asked. "Sweetening the deal with that filth?!"

"Filth?! I'll have you know I wrote this book after spying on six different hot springs." Jiraiya said with pride. Goddaughter or not, she did not know the amount of effort Jiraiya put in with those books. Who else had the guts to write the stuff he does and make millions off of it? He then leaned back against the wall while grumbling something.

"Either way you're not getting in here." Kasumi said and then to her utter surprise the Toad Sage suddenly fell through the barrier and was looking at her, dumbfounded. Both of them then looked at Naruto who was holding up the ram seal with one hand.

"There you're in." Naruto said and Kasumi looked at him with narrowed eyes. Naruto looked at her and for the life of him he was not sure why she was so angry with him. She then started to walk away as Naruto looked at her retreating form.

"Geez." Jiraiya said getting the attention of the blue eyed Uchiha. "First fight, huh?"

"I don't know what you're implying Jiraiya-sama." Naruto said. "But I do wish you would go on as to why you're here."

"Let's walk kid. It would be better if I told you on the way." Jiraiya said and Naruto looked at the Toad Sage for a moment. A very, long moment as Naruto was giving him a blank stare. Then Naruto started walking as Jiraiya walked beside him. Soon enough they were walking through the main square of the Compound and Jiraiya was inwardly cringing when he walked. He may not have been a huge fan of the Uchiha from the get go, but still to see a place he had previously seen in his village filled with people left with no residents at all was something akin to a ghoulish experience for him.

"So what did you want to talk about Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto asked. His mind was elsewhere. Not on the Akatsuki or Orochimaru, rather on Kasumi and her apparent anger towards him at the moment.

"Well, Chunnin Naruto Uchiha." Jiraiya said and if Naruto did have any reaction to it he hid it very well. "First of all, I'd like to say congratulations on your success. Sensei has said nothing but great things about you and your apparent role in this operation we're running. So, my question to you is this. How strong are you really? And don't try to give me a half assed answer like you gave to sensei. He maybe civil with you, but I assure you….I am not that kind." Jiraiya finished with a wide smile and looked at the young Uchiha who remained quiet for a long time before sighing. He then stopped and looked at Jiraiya and for the first time since encountering Orochimaru, Naruto was not sure what to do. The little anger induced behavior from Kasumi seemed to be affecting his thinking more than he thought it would.

"The truth is I honestly don't know." Naruto said not bothering to lie this time. More like he could not make up a lie right now. His usual calm thinking pattern was being irrational at the moment. "But I know this much, I am not strong enough to take down a Sannin. A jounin at most I suppose."

"Well, at least you're being honest about it." Jiraiya said and then suddenly aimed a punch at Naruto who crossed his arms to form an X shaped guard. He felt the full bristle of the blow as he skidded backwards and activated his Sharingan. Did he make a mistake in recognizing Jiraiya? No, the chakra signature was definitely the same. This was Jiraiya alright. But why was the Toad Sage attacking him? Probably measuring his strength. Naruto was surprised to see that Jiraiya was already near him and was bringing his foot racing at him with the intent to injure. Naruto however reacted in time as he weaved his entire body around the extended leg and rushed to the training ground. Jiraiya followed suite and was chasing him.

Soon enough they arrived at the clearing and Naruto did not bother stopping. Instead he unsealed some shuriken from his forearms where two guard clothes were placed and threw the shuriken at the Toad Sage. Jiraiya threw his own shuriken to deflect all the incoming projectiles as he saw the now red eyed boy making the tiger hand seal. Then the boy exhaled a large orange fireball which came rushing at Jiraiya. Jiraiya was quick enough to move out of the way but saw something new. A kama was heading straight for his head and he ducked as the scythe cut some of his white hair. Jiraiya smirked a bit at the unconventional method the boy had used and then felt like he had stepped on something. He saw that he was stepping on the shuriken Naruto had launched but these were a bit different, as they had small paper tags on them.

"SHIT!" Jiraiya yelled as Naruto made the ram seal and three shuriken exploded. Naruto could still sense him and he jumped out of the ground as Jiraiya emerged from below whose fist made direct contact with his cheek as he flew across. Naruto tried to regain his balance but Jiraiya had already arrived and was bringing down his foot.

*THWACK*

Jiraiya's sandal collided against something solid and the Toad Sage looked down to see a gunbai below his foot. Then Jiraiya felt the wind rushing against him as he jumped back to see some small cuts on his foot while his pants had more visible tear marks. Naruto stood there with his Gunbai and kama as his hair fell down to cover his left eye. Jiraiya merely looked at the youngster and from the books he had read along with the pictures he had seen, the Uchiha kid in front of him resembled Madara…. Especially the way he looked right now.

"You still got a lot of work to do brat." Jiraiya said and suddenly felt someone grab his foot. A hand was sticking out and the Toad Sage pulled his foot up dragging the clone out. Jiraiya was going to punch him but remembered what Sarutobi had said as he jumped back just in time as the clone exploded.

'To think he made a **Shadow Clone** in the middle of that scuffle and hid it underground. I didn't even see him making any hand seals.' Jiraiya thought as Naruto started going through hand seals, at an abnormal speed. Naruto stopped at tiger as he released his jutsu.

" **Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu / Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu"** Naruto muttered as he exhaled flames that took the shape of a dragon's head as it headed towards Jiraiya. Jiraiya for his part made his own hand seals as he slammed his hands on the ground.

" **Doton: Doton Kekkai / Earth Style: Earth Dome"** Jiraiya said as the earth around him rose up and surrounded him making a dome like shape that would provide defense for him against the incoming fire attack. The fire made draconic head collided against the dome of earth and much to the young Uchiha's surprise the dome of earth was acting perfectly against his own jutsu. Naruto did copy down the jutsu and mentally noted that this would be effective against another **Katon** user, but then noted that the wall was slowly crumbling away as the Toad Sage was nowhere in sight. Then Jiraiya appeared in front of him out of the ground and was once more going to hit Naruto but the chunnin ducked under the fist while bringing his foot up to connect with Jiraiya's chin and made the tiger hand seal as Jiraiya was in mid air.

' **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu / Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu'** Naruto thought as he exhaled the orange flames once more. Jiraiya was in mid air and could not possibly have any form of defense right now. Then Naruto's thoughts were taken away from him as Jiraiya appeared unscathed from the smoke of explosion that surrounded him but the effects of the fire jutsu could be seen as some of his hair had smoke coming off of it.

'To think he made me use the **Needle Jizo** as a defensive maneuver.' Jiraiya thought as he looked at Naruto who was now breathing a bit harder now. 'So the battle's finally taking a toll on him. Not surprising since he already had a fight today and was probably training for the rest of the day. Kid's got his priorities straight…..but he's distracted too.' Jiraiya finished his thoughts as he remembered his goddaughter glaring at him. Probably a lovers quarrel. Still, the kid was good and Jiraiya had landed only a few selective blows on the kid. But now came the real test. Jiraiya made hand seals as he touched the ground once more.

" **Doton: Yomi Numa / Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld"** Jiraiya said and the ground around Naruto transformed. The surface on which his feet rested began to change to swamp as he got stuck in the thick of it. He was slowly sinking into the muddy surface too. Naruto was officially worried now, he had never seen such a jutsu before that virtually assure no escape by any possible means. The more Naruto tried to escape, the quicker he sank into the deep cavern of mud. He knew there was only one card to play here and was going to activate his Mangekyou Sharingan . **Kamui / Authority of the Gods** would help him escape this place. But, he really did not want Jiraiya to find out about his technique. Throwing caution to the windmill, he began to concentrate chakra into his eyes as he made the ram seal to try and possible distract Jiraiya's line of vision to his hands rather than focus specifically on his lone eye that was visible right now.

Then before Naruto's three tomoe eye could change into the four pinwheel shaped evolved form, the younger brother of Shisui felt something wrap around his arm and felt some of his chakra being drained. He saw that there was a chain wrapped around his wrist, now both wrists as the chains were glowing golden and yanked him out of the devouring swamp as he was dragged to the source of the chains. The binding of the chains undid themselves as they disappeared out of sight. He was still on the ground and on all fours. He knew who was standing in front of him and he saw that the feet he was seeing slowly go back as she began to sit down on her knees coming to a closer level to his crouched position. Naruto looked up, deactivating his Sharingan as his dull blue eyes looked into violet ones.

"What happened?...Tell me the truth." She said in a whisper as they were close. Naruto heard it and didn't say anything. Then all of a sudden he felt that familiar feeling again as Kasumi had slowly made her way towards him and hugged him. Her head was once more resting against his chest as his heartbeat served as the reminder of where she was. Her arms had tightly wrapped around his waist as Naruto finally gave in and also wrapped his arms around her. Both of them just sat there as their bodies remained firmly close to each other.

Jiraiya being the wise man he was, just backed off and hid in the tree. Sure they were a couple and couples had a fight every now and then, but that was his goddaughter dammit. There was no way he would abandon her anymore. To be honest, he was feeling a bit strange watching the two. Based on what Hiruzen Sarutobi told him, they were exceptionally close. And judging by Naruto's constant distractive tendency in the battle, he was probably fixated on the fact over their little squabble. Plus seeing the chibi blonde version of Kushina with whisker marks was sort of bringing out his god-parental instincts. Still, he'd wait and then threaten Naruto if he ever chose to hurt her.

"I…..I can't tell you right now…but I'll tell you about it after the invasion has been thwarted off." Naruto told her as he felt her ruffle around his chest. He really did not like the fact he was hiding something this large from her. But, she was not ready to know such a thing yet. She would be in time no doubt, but not right now. He then brought one of his hands to cup her cheek as she looked up with tears threatening to leak.

"I'm sorry." She said as she looked down once more. "I'm sorry I was angry but…I don't like it when you try to hide things from me. I never hid anything from you."

"I know, I should be the one apologizing instead. I guess I still am a jerk like I used to be in the Academy." Naruto said getting a soft chuckle from his girlfriend. He then cupped both of her cheeks as she looked up and he softly kissed her forehead. It was these small acts of affection that truly made his days feel worth living. As for their other activities, well he tried to restrain himself just like she did. Kasumi was not ready to do 'that' yet and he was in no rush. But they were slowly leaning forward now towards each other. They felt their soft breaths caressing each other's lips and now they could finally show each other their love once more.

"AHEM!" a very loud noise came from the tree as both stopped in their almost engaged activity to see that Jiraiya came down from the branch. "You kids should really get a room."

"U-Urusai!" Kasumi yelled not getting up as her face was red while her boyfriend's palms were still on her cheeks, not that she was complaining. Then Kasumi got up as she accusingly pointed a finger at the Toad Sage. "What are you still doing here ero?"

"Remember I told you, I didn't have a place to stay. And besides, you two need my help as I the Great Toad Sage of Mt. Myoboku have decided to help in training you for the month." Jiraiya said with a grin. "Plus, I get to make some new scenes for my new book. I can totally see it. 'Icha Icha: Forbidden Young Love' Hehehehehe." He began to giggle before a kunai barely missed his crotch as he jumped up in fear and saw Kasumi slowly walking towards him in a very angry manner as her hair shadowed her eyes and the rest of her golden tresses were floating around menacingly.

Jiraiya for his part was backing off out of fear. He had seen this before and knew about the impending doom that was coming his way. Naruto for his part really didn't want to stop her for executing some painful retorts. The Toad Sage wanted to use the two of them as his next source material for his next book? Outrageous, even though a small part of him…..nah forget about it. There was absolutely no good in stopping Kasumi right now. Not when the two of them just reconciled.

* * *

Timeskip: A few hours later.

Needless to say, Jiraiya was on the end of a very severe beating. His left arm was in a bandage and he was muffling out painful groans every now and then. Naruto had understood why Jiraiya was here. He was here to protect the two of them in addition to training them. Kakashi Hatake and a few other ANBu had been assigned to protect Sasuke in case Orochimaru decided to attack him. Of course, Naruto was safe in the Compound but having Jiraiya was an added bonus.

At first Kasumi did not want to learn from Jiraiya at all, seeing as he was a pervert and her pure hatred for the Icha Icha series really did not add any plus points for the Toad Sage in her book. After Naruto explained that Jiraiya was _the teacher_ of the Fourth Hokage, Kasumi agreed to it and they made a small routine. Jiraiya had been informed that Naruto knew about the Kyuubi and he really didn't care about that fact, Jiraiya was rather taken aback at his comment about Kasumi. He really does not care who she was, who are parents were or what was inside her. Kasumi Uzumaki, to him, was the girl he met at the ramen stand one day. And his girlfriend, Naruto also added that Jiraiya not perving out over everything they do. And Kasumi added further by telling the Toad Sage to not even think about peeking in their room.

Slowly they made a routine which consisted of Kasumi learning how to access the Kyuubi's chakra, further Chakra Control exercises, a more versatile sparring partner and more jutsu on **Fuuton, Doton** and **Suiton** since all of those were the affinities that Kasumi shared with Jiraiya. Jiraiya also stated that he might let Kasumi sign the Toad Contract if she was worthy, as both him and the Fourth Hokage were Toad Summoners. As for Naruto, Jiraiya would help him in **Katon, Fuuton** and **Suiton**. As for **Raiton** , it seemed that Kakashi had actually given Jiraiya some scrolls for him and some other scrolls for Kasumi. All in all, the entire month's training schedule was set in stone. Dinner went uneventful between the three of them and both residents of the house had explicitly warned the Toad Sage to keep himself restrained, whereas Naruto had told and treated the man with some form of subtle respect Kasumi had outright threatened to take away what made him a man.

Naruto was now standing in the training ground once more. He had planted new seeds in the ground and had taken out the rubble he had formed today. He was always a bit cheerful when he took care of the Compound. It was his home and he'd be damned if he let anything happen to it. Being an Uchiha always made you rather meticulous. Aside from the obvious 'I'm genetically superior than you' attitude proper etiquette and decorum was something every Uchiha child inherited. His brother Obito may have been a bit goofy, but even he had proper manners. Satsuki Uchiha made _sure_ her sons weren't a rowdy bunch.

And now he stood with a satisfied smile. He was walking over to the Naka Shrine as he started cleaning the place. It took a longer amount of time than usual, probably because Kasumi was keeping an eye on Jiraiya so he doesn't do anything stupid while he taught her Fuuinjutsu. Ah yes, he nearly forgot about that. Having a Seal Master like Jiraiya had also benefited their Fuuinjutsu lessons something he was proud about when it concerned the both of them.

Naruto finally finished and was about to go out but something stopped him. Something had entered the Naka Shrine. Naruto immediately activated his Sharingan and found the intruder. It was a crow. A crow as dark as the night sky. It was walking around on the surface as it cocked its head every now and then as it walked around. Naruto not wanting the crow to take a literal shit over the floor slowly walked over to it and decided to use genjutsu on it to drive it away. Seemed like a much more appropriate method than killing it. Just as Naruto's eyes made contact with the crows he was shocked beyond belief. The crow's eyes….had Sharingan in them and the next thing that Naruto knew he was no longer in the Naka Shrine.

* * *

Pseudo Genjutsu World

Naruto Uchiha was a bit angry right now. He was caught in a genjutsu. No normal place in the world had a yellow sky with purple clouds. The effect of the two colors was meant to confuse people and give them a sense of dizziness due to the bright and distracting color of it. The crow had a Sharingan and for some reason in the back of his mind, Naruto knew exactly who was behind this. However, he did not try to break the genjutsu. He knew that the caster of this illusion wasn't really here and this was probably the only chance he might have to talk with this person in a long time.

"Hello, Naruto." A calm voice made itself known as Naruto slowly turned around to see the person who spoke those words. He looked at his face and his eyes under which were long, pronounced tear-troughs. He had jet-black hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail and his face was framed with centre-parted bangs that extended to his chin; the ponytail and bangs had grown longer over the years since Naruto last saw him. He wore a black cloak that had several red clouds designed on it and a slashed Konoha forehead protector to symbolize his broken ties with the village. The cloak's high collar would probably obscure his ponytail every now and then. On his right ring finger was a ring, which was red and bore the kanji for "vermilion" (朱, shu). He wore purple nail polish on his fingers and toes. Naruto knew the black cloak with red clouds too well. He had learned about them a few days ago when he scoured Orochimaru's mind for information. Only one group wore this particular article of clothing. The same group that was after the person he loved.

The Akatsuki.

But more importantly this person was a member of this Akatsuki. Genin at 7, Chunnin at 10, ANBU by 11 and ANBU Captain by 13. One of the three greatest Uchiha prodigies to emerge in the history of the Hidden Leaf along with Genjuro and Shisui. This person was Itachi Uchiha. The man who massacred his own clan for the sake of the village. The man who decided to bring down the curtain on his own clan, so that a war would not break out because of the Clan's rebellion.

"Itachi-nii." Naruto said while looking at his rogue nin older brother figure. He had gotten taller since the last time he had seen him, though that was no surprise.

"You've grown up. And from what I hear every now and then, you've grown stronger too no doubt." Itachi said as he looked at the boy who he used to train along with Shisui when they were younger. The world as fucked up as it was before the Massacre, was still a peaceful place to live. Only because of one man, an entire clan had suffered from his actions. And now there were only four survivors left of the once elite Uchiha Clan.

"Your hair grew out. I honestly thought the whole ponytail was a phase." Naruto said with a small smile. There was no point in hiding emotions in front of Itachi. That man had perfected in hiding his emotions. For example, the blank look on his face represented such an emotionless state that Naruto couldn't even tell how much pain Itachi had went through when he had killed his own parents.

"And I remember you saying you wouldn't keep your hair that big." Itachi said and showed the ghost of a smirk. "Tell me something though. How are you so calm knowing that I killed the Clan? That I killed Shisui?" Itachi asked and Naruto looked at Itachi with an exasperated sigh.

"Itachi-nii…I know. I know the truth behind the Massacre." Naruto said as he looked at the Kinslaying Uchiha. "You didn't honestly think that Shisui-nii-san didn't take any precaution surrounding the nature of his missions. Remember one of the first lessons the both you taught me?"

"Always have several contingencies. Nothing is certain, except the disruption of a plan." Itachi said and was mildly surprised that Naruto remembered those words. He had rather expected Naruto's emotions to go turmoil after finding out the truth. How was this boy not affected by it to that scale?

"So you don't hate me? You don't hate me for what I did? You don't hate the Village for what it did to our clan?" Itachi asked and he needed to be sure what Naruto's exact intentions were. Just a few days ago, Zetsu had reported that Orochimaru was planning an invasion on the Hidden Leaf. The Akatasuki originally wanted to make a move but due to certain developments with Iwagakure they couldn't. Money was a large issue at the moment and the Akatsuki had to prioritize. They always operated in two man cells and only two units were free at the moment. Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha, along with Zetsu who acted solely after Orochimaru defected. Though that was not entirely true as Zetsu's true superior was with him most of the time.

"Do I hate you? I don't know. You did massacre the entire clan. MY CLAN. But much more importantly, you killed Mikoto-obaa-san." Naruto said as the rage in his voice seeped out with every word. Those were genuine angry emotions that Naruto was displaying. A rage he had kept a lid on for several years until he took off the cap a few days ago on Orochimaru. Then he learned about the Akatsuki. Oh he was livid after that but still maintained a fair amount of control.

"So don't think I am just going to let you walk freely after that. I know that in the end it would come down to the Uchiha Clan or the Hidden Leaf. You chose the Leaf and I am not going to argue with your beliefs. However, doing so you may have killed off our clan but you also prevented a large war from breaking out. I merely thought that both you and nii-san were crazy for even thinking of doing something like that. It was only later on I realized the larger endgame of it all." Naruto said Itachi closed his eyes for a moment and realized that there was nothing much to worry about with Naruto. But with Sasuke…..things would be more volatile.

"I see. But you haven't told me about your opinion on the Village." Itachi spoke as he opened his eyes again. "Tell me, what about your love for the village."

"My love for the Hidden Leaf has lessened." Naruto said without a moment's hesitation. " First they blame us for the Kyuubi Attack. Then they spy on us to see if we are being kept in place despite us being one of the two founding clans that made this village for those immigrants. Then those same people ordered the Clan's massacre. Then expect me to do what? Be their lapdog and they enjoy such an experience? Hardly. There used to be a time when I used to think of keeping the Village over everything else even after the Massacre. But over the years, I realized how truly expendable we are. They ordered our massacre. Our entire clan….gone within one night. I read all those letters my brother left me. At one point I even told myself he was a fool along with you."

Itachi truly was not liking the things that Naruto was saying. However, none of them were wrong essentially. Naruto had every right to hate the village. Any person would. However, a part of Itachi believed that Naruto was different.

"That's what I kept telling myself. And I thought there was nothing to tie me down to the village. I even thought about rebelling. But then I realized something else." Naruto paused for a moment as he looked at Itachi. "If I did rebel….I'd be spitting on everything my family ever worked for. Tou-san liberated Wave Country with the original intention to save his comrades so they could return to the village. He chose to sacrifice his life so that the Village could prosper. Obito-nii did the same thing when he chose activate the seals whilst he was stuck under a boulder. Shisui-nii… he too chose the village's safety. I always wondered why. I finally reached the conclusion they chose the village bevause that's where our loved ones reside. The Village protects them and makes them stronger. I honestly had nothing left binding me to the village but I realized that I would be dishonoring my entire lineage if I went against the village and… there is something worth protecting in the Village… so that's why I will protect our Village. I won't abandon the Village or its people. I'll defend with the last full measure of my devotion." Naruto finished and for the first time in years he saw Itachi smile. It was faint and could be barely passed as a smile, for not many people had claimed to seen the prodigy smile.

"It seems Shisui was right." Itachi said as he looked at Naruto. "He told me before he died, that you would be much more different. That you valued the lives of those who were precious to you, to the extent that you could never really betray them. I am glad he was right. And whether you believe it or not, he was also the one who told me to play that little farce with you about his death. He had no doubt that you'd awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan if you were shown his death in the **Tsukuyomi / Moon Reader**. Now before you ask further questions Naruto, tell me the full story. How much do you truly know about the Uchiha Massacre?"

Naruto then went on to explain about the letters that Shisui had left him. He told Itachi about the suspicions on the Uchiha Clan, the Naka Shrine Secrets, the Mangekyou Sharingan and the eventual spies that often raided the Uchiha Clan Compound. Of course that stopped after some time and then Naruto had put up the Barrier Seal that defended the Compound.

"I see. We've been keeping an eye out on the village for some time now. It seems that Orochimaru is planning an invasion." Itachi said.

"I know about Orochimaru I encountered him. He managed to mark Sasuke with the **Curse Seal**." Naruto said and just for a moment he could see Itachi's eyebrow twitch a bit. "He tried the same thing with me, but the Mangekyou Sharingan helped in fending him off. Seems that Sunagakure is also involved with the Snake's village Oto. I also learned about your little S Rank Criminal Group, the Akatsuki." Itachi looked at him for a moment before he spoke up again.

" **Chishiki Kisechuu / Knowledge Parasite** , you've been very busy over the last few years then. Do you know anything else about the Invasion?" Itachi asked.

"Other than the fact that they plan to unleash the Ichibi and cast a massive genjutsu on the day of the finals, no. Why is there something else of important note?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, it seems that Danzo Shimura is working with Orochimaru. He's the one who provided Orochimaru's forces passage into the Village and all of them are being housed in ROOT's base right now." Itachi said. He then noted the look of rage that crossed Naruto's face.

"About him. Nii-san wrote that I should avoid him at all costs. I also felt some of Nii-san's chakra coming off of him." Naruto said and looked at Itachi. "Does he have one of his eyes?"

"Yes. As you know, Shisui also had the Mangekyou Sharingan. His ability the **Kotoamtsukami / Distinguished Heavenly Gods** allowed him to perform perfect hypnosis. He could control a person's subconscious completely and the victim wouldn't even be able to tell he was under the subjugation of the perfect genjutsu. He's the only one who has ever awakened such an ability. However, there is a certain limitation on that genjutsu. Shisui entrusted his other eye to me. He told me before he died that he had put in ocular transcriptions that every time **Kotoamatsukami** would be used, the ability would be deactivated later. I am going to assume that Danzo already used it since the Sandaime-sama did not kill Danzo because of his instigation in the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Still, it's only an assumption. I forgot to ask, did you awaken it as well?" Itachi asked.

"No. I only have the **Amaterasu / Heavenly Illumination** and the **Kamui / Authority of the Gods.** I don't know anything about my **Susano'o / Tempestous God of Valor** yet. I don't know if I will even have that ability." Naruto said.

"So you have the **Kamui** as well." Itachi said.

"Wait, what do you mean I have it as well?" Naruto asked. This only meant one thing. Someone else that Itachi knew had the **Kamui**. "Who else has it? Kakashi-nii?"

"No. Not Kakashi-senpai." Itachi said. "Remember how I asked you how much you truly know about the night of the Massacre?" Naruto nodded and Itachi knew he had to hurry.

"There was another person the night I slaughtered the entire clan. He helped me slaughter the clan. I alone could not kill so many in such a short amount of time. He could pass through things and had a **Jikukan Jutsu / Space-Time Jutsu** that allowed him to escape. He is the true leader of the Akatsuki and he's the person who was responsible for making the Kyuubi no Kitsune attack the Hidden Leaf fourteen years ago." Itachi said.

"Who is he?" Naruto asked. He really did not like the fact that someone else other than him had the **Kamui.** On top of that, this person was the leader of the Akatsuki who could control the Kyuubi no less.

"Madara Uchiha." Itachi said and Naruto looked at him with widened eyes. The sheer disbelief in his eyes was clear as daylight. And Itachi was not really surprised or disappointed at Naruto's sudden moment of revelation. He too was worried when the Masked Man had revealed himself as Madara.

"Are you serious?" Naruto asked as he was sweating a bit in the genjutsu and saw Itachi nod. Naruto really did not like the situation he was in right now. Madara Uchiha was the leader of the Akatsuki. Madara Uchiha was alive. Madara Uchiha helped slaughter his own clan, the same clan that exiled him. Madara Uchiha was after Kasumi Uzumaki, rather the Kyuubi inside her. It made all that much more sense now. Since Madara had controlled the Kyuubi before it made sense that he would go after the Kyuubi once more.

What chance did Naruto have against the Legendary Shinobi who fought against the Shodai Hokage? He survived that battle and was alive to this day. Could he beat Madara?

"So…." Naruto spoke once more. "Madara is alive….and he's after the Kyuubi inside Kasumi?" He finished.

"Yes." Itachi said. "Madara is after Kasumi Uzumaki. Once he rips the Kyuubi out of her, she will die."

"Maybe…Maybe I can beat him. I know the weakness of the **Kamui.** And I-" Naruto was cut off.

"You can do nothing right now. If I'm not wrong, you're not strong enough to even beat a Sannin yet. What chance do you have against someone like Madara? Someone that even I can't beat and Orochimaru tends to avoid into getting into a fight with me, that was why he was after you and Sasuke." Itachi said as Naruto fell on his knees and was trying not to yell.

Itachi looked at Naruto and hid his sadness. He had seen Naruto grow up receiving animosity within the clan yet he never gave up and kept striving forward. From Zetsu's reports the Akatsuki received recent information on how Naruto had defeated Mangetsu Hozuki by himself. What was surprising was that even Zetsu despite spying in Konoha numerous times never saw Naruto train. Itachi guessed that Naruto must've trained for years in the Secret Chamber which cannot be accessed unless an Uchiha grants access. There were certain laws and rules regarding that place that even Zetsu could not break or get into.

Despite everything he saw Naruto grow up strong and another recent report from the Land of Waves concluded that Naruto was romantically infatuated with the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Some Akatsuki members even made jokes about it. And now Naruto Uchiha was about to lose the girl he loved. Yes, it was love alright. Itachi could tell. While he did not know what it was like to have your lover die, he did know what it was like to distance yourself from the person you love. That was one of his greatest regrets in his life. And now his pseudo younger brother was suffering. Don't get him wrong, Itachi loved his younger brother. To the point he had threatened Danzo to leak the secrets about the Village's barrier system if his younger brother had a single hair on his head touched. He would go to war to protect his younger brother. But with Naruto it was different. He understood things better than Sasuke and thought on a more clear headed level, even as a child.

"What…do I do?" Naruto asked bringing Itachi out of his thoughts as he saw Naruto's face filled with tears. Even in the genjutsu his emotions were starting to leak out. "Tell me! What do I do?! I need to protect her! I! I can't lose her!" Naruto begged Itachi for a solution. His head was not clearly thinking anymore. Itachi was right, what silver of a chance did Naruto stand against Madara Uchiha.

Itachi closed his eyes for some before he spoke again.

"Do you truly want to protect her?" Itachi asked him. "Are you ready to give up everything you have to protect her?"

"Yes!" Naruto yelled out without even hesitating.

"Calm down. There's no point in speaking to you if you can't keep a cool head." Itachi said and Naruto's breathing steadied a bit more.

"I can't lose her Itachi-nii." Naruto said as he wiped the tears off his face. "She….She's all I have left."

"I see." Itachi said. "Then listen carefully. I don't have much time so I will tell you brief what's going to happen during the day of the finals. From there on out, our plan will begin to defeat the Akatsuki. But you must do exactly as I say."

"Don't worry Itachi-nii." Naruto said with some barely scraped confidence. "I'll try to do everything. But there is something I need to ask you first."

"What would that be?" Itachi asked.

"How did you find out about me and Kasumi? The way you said it, you knew that I was involved with her. How did you get that information?" Naruto asked.

"Simple. A member of the Akatsuki spies into the village every now and then. However, he has not been able to get a perfect gauge on your strength probably because of the Naka Shrine. His name is Zetsu." Itachi finished and Naruto looked up at him.

"ZETSU?! Wait! Is…he a plant like guy completely black?" Naruto asked with nervousness. If this was the same Zetsu that his ancestor spoke of then…..

"Not really. But I have seen him split into two beings. One completely white and one completely black." Itachi said noting the look of horrific revelation on Naruto's face. "What's wrong?"

"I have a lot of things to tell you. Can you stay for a bit more?" Naruto asked.

"You'll have to keep it more brief thank you think." Itachi said and Naruto started to speak.

* * *

Naruto's House, Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto Uchiha slowly walked into his bedroom. Jiraiya was staying in the other room. Jiraiya had told him a few moments ago that Kasumi went to her room and Jiraiya explained that he would keep Naruto updated on the invasion going on. Naruto had a great burden on his shoulder right now. What Itachi proposed wasn't easy. It was also difficult for him on a personal level. The long term plan had its own set of backfiring problems of its own but still there was no denying the logic in Itachi's approach. But could Naruto do it? Could he pull off what Itachi wanted him to do during the day of the finals?

Shrugging those thoughts aside Naruto entered his room and closed the door. He locked it and saw one of the most beautiful sights in his life. A sight that made all his worries go away. The lights of the room were closed. But instead there were several candles in the room and Kasumi was sitting on the bed wearing a sleeveless white shirt and red shorts that came down to her thighs as she sat. Her golden hair seemed to be shining like a beacon as the dim candle light only served to make her look like goddess in that moment in his eyes. Naruto saw her and smiled at the love of his life.

This is what he was fighting for. Naruto slowly made his way across and sat with her as she decided to sit on his lap while her head rested against his chest. She heard the rhythmic heartbeat that had served as a lullaby for her on a regular basis. She was at peace. She knew that something was wrong with Naruto and probably figured it had something to do with Orochimaru and the Invasion. A fight with a Sannin did change a person. She then felt his arms wrap around him. One on the back of her head and the other on her waist. He pulled her up and kissed her deeply as she too kissed him back with as much passion as she could. Both of them opened their mouths as their tongues caressed against each other for. Naruto then broke the kiss as he slowly began to kiss her jawline and made his way on to her neck. Kasumi felt tingles going through her body with each kiss that Naruto laid across her creamy skin. And then he stopped much to her displeasure.

Naruto looked at her and saw the dark blush across her face as she looked absolutely flushed. Naruto couldn't help but find her even more adorable. He then placed her on the bed as he felt a growing sensation between his legs, and no matter how much he wanted to….he couldn't. Not right now. The Invasion needed to be thwarted off and then their real plan would start. If all went according to plan from there on out then he would have some time on his hands. But therein lied the problem. The plan in itself was risky. Also, Itachi told him another secret seeing how much Naruto cares about Kasumi.

He told Naruto about Kasumi's true parentage. To say that it was mindblowing was to say the least. Naruto then got up and changed his clothes in the washroom as he cleaned himself a bit more.

"What's wrong Naru?" Kasumi asked once more.

"It's the invasion." Naruto said as dried his face with the towel and proceeded to sit beside her once more. He used a small **Fuuton** jutsu to use the wind to blow out every candle. The moonlight broke its way through the narrow slits in the window giving the room a dimly lit aura as both teens leaned against each other. He could not afford to lose control right now. Her attire wasn't helping either. The clothes were clinging to her body and Naruto swore that her chest seemed a bit larger now. He shook his head as he spoke again. Failing to get that image out of his head.

"We have a long road ahead of us Sumi. We have to be careful from now on out. Anyone outside the village is an enemy right now." Naruto said. "Don't trust anyone except Leaf nin. But I want you to stay away from the ANBU that have 'Ne' symbols on them."

"Why?" Kasumi asked in a worried manner.

"Just, listen to me alright. There's something about those ANBU that are wrong. And trust me, it's better if you stay away from them. Please." Naruto said as he clasped her hand with his own. Seeing her nod Naruto smiled and kissed her forehead. "Let's go to sleep. I don't want Jiraiya-sama making any notes on us if we're late." Naruto said as he lied with Kasumi snuggling up beside him. She then put her head on his chest making him feel whole again. Her feel was making small circles on his leg as her arms were tightly wrapped around his abdomen. He then gripped her tightly to his own frame as his arms rested on her waist. He was rubbing her back every now and then unconsciously. She really liked it when he did that.

"Hey, Naru?" Kasumi asked she felt the smooth hand rubbing her back.

"Yes?" Naruto asked as she let go of him and propped up on one elbow.

"Everything's going to be alright after we fight off the Invasion, right?" Kasumi asked as Naruto looked deep in her eyes as he gave his answer.

"I hope so." Naruto said as he looked at her and kissed her on her lips once more. Just a deep kiss, nothing else beyond that. In time, their relationship would blossom into something more. But not tonight. He caressed her cheek as she purred because of her whisker marks. "But don't worry Sumi. No matter what happens. I won't let anything happen to you. I will protect you with everything I have and….. I will love you always." Naruto said as this time Kasumi got on top of him and kissed him deeply and Naruto could not stop himself from licking Kasumi's lower lip as she kissed his upper lip. Then both broke off once more as Naruto felt a jolt on his body. The seal was still there on his body and he was glad.

"Sorry." Kasumi said in whispering voice. She was breathing a bit heavily. She had lost control of herself in that one moment. She truly felt her heart melt when he said those words. Trying to stop that growing wetness between her legs, she pinched Naruto a a bit hard as she was beside him again.

"What was that for?" Naruto asked.

"For stealing my line Naru. I was supposed to be the one who said those things to you. Don't worry, I Kasumi Uzumaki the future Hokage do promise to love you and protect you forever." Kasumi said as Naruto looked at her with a smile. "And that's the promise of a lifetime."

Both did not say anything else as they went deep into the realms of sleep. For tumultuous times raged ahead and these two would brave whatever storm that would stand in their path. Naruto brought Kasumi even closer as she had fallen asleep already. She was tired from working on her Fuuinjutsu and would easily surpass him one day. No doubt about that. But one thing was certain in Naruto's mind.

'You don't ever have to worry…as long as I am here. Nothing bad will ever happen to you.'

* * *

 **AND CUT!**

 **Well that is it for this chapter and I sincerely hope there weren't too many mistakes in this chapter. Also, another side note to those of you who also read the Shinobi Mage. I re-edited something very crucial in Chapter 1 of the Shinobi Mage. I hope you guys notice that as that edited bit will play a large part in "The Shinobi Who Sold the World". But enough about that let's talk about the Uchiha Prodigy.**

 **As you guys read, Jiraiya feels really guilty for not being there for Kasumi. I could've done the whole bashing thing unnecessarily. There will be some bashing, but only when the situation calls for it. As you can see I made both Jiraiya and Sarutobi feel that they truly could've done something about Kasumi but they didn't. And there is no bullshit explanation for that. They could've at least given her a better apartment. I cleared the whole Kiba incident with this chapter too, no need to drag that out. Don't worry he will get his punishment in due time. Jiraiya was merely testing Naruto out on how he did his battles and Naruto was surprised because he had never seen such a jutsu before but had a counter to it, despite the overwhelming cost of it. Now moving on, I hope you noticed how I made several characters point of views in this chapter. I wanted to show you how each of them are making their own plans regarding this invasion.**

 **Seems a bit better than keeping the entire focus on Naruto and Kasumi.**

 **Danzo and Orochimaru have some issues between them and this will play a part later on. Jiraiya and the Sandaime are making plans on thwarting off the invasion. Sasuke is guarded by Kakashi and some ANBU. Kabuto? Well you'll find out what happened to him in the next chapter. You also saw how Kasumi and Naruto had their first real little quarrel. Kasumi can understand that her boyfriend is a bit conflicted and doesn't like the fact that he is hiding things from her. Naruto is in a bit of a conflict with himself and you can see his turmoil of emotions surfacing. He is somewhat bitter towards the village but is working on those issues. Also, what does Itachi have planned for Naruto on the day of the finals? The only thing I can tell you is that it will be a long term plan.**

 **Nothing else is sure except for Naruto's undying devotion to Kasumi, and the same could be said for her.**

 **Plus those of you dissing me for not making Naruto and Kasumi 'do it', well fuck you! I will make that situation come up later and only when it calls for it. So, yeah the only thing they're suffering from now is horniness that every teen goes through at that age. Their ones act up more because of all the tension they have and the fact that they live together. So no lemons about them for the time being. But there will be more fluffy moments. YAY!**

 **As far as the barrier seal is concerned, well think of it this way. It's like a big Room of Requirement and will have plausible loopholes in it. For example, Tobi can enter the Compound and later give Zetsu permission to enter the Compound. However, the same cannot be done with the Secret Chamber below the Naka Shrine. The only in or out are through the two entrances. And only pure blooded Uchiha can access it and others can enter if said Uchiha opens the door and allows it. No fucking KAMUI is going to work there. Very old Fuuinjutsu that cannot be broken under any circumstances.**

 **And now the final note about this chapter. This was merely a prologue to the next chapter. It was setting things up for you to know who are the players in the Invasion that is to come. So keep an eye on them folks and remember since this isn't canon, anything and everything can happen. But don't worry, random meteors won't fall out of the sky yet. I hope so. God I can never forget that scene when Madara dropped A FUCKING METEOR!**

 **Seriously, there used to be a time when the Raikiri was the coolest jutsu around. God I miss those times! So no more ranting and wasting time. I hope the chapter was up to your expectations. If not, I am sorry but this was the best I could come up with considering I had hit a pretty bad writer's block a few days back. Also my midterm exams are coming up so the Shinobi Mage could be published a bit late this time. Keep that in mind. And now hit the favorite and follow buttons if you think this story is suited to your liking. If it's not, no problem you have a different taste from what I write and that is completely alright. But for those of you who do like this…**

 **REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

 **That's right folks I sincerely urge you to review the chapters as you have no idea how much us authors LOVE IT when you give back your feedbacks. We absolutely love it when you like it, praise it, point out the flaws and what not. Every review is special and appreciated. Except the spammed ones….those just plain out hurt us.**

 **So, I guess that is it for today. I'll see my favorite readers in my other works if you read them and oh, one more thing…**

 **HOLY SHIT! Did you see the new Naruto + DXD story I published?! It's already got 1000 favs and follows with one fucking chapter! How did that happen?! Jesus Christ! I mean it's surprising because this is coming from the guy who quit watching DXD after watching Issei throw holy water on the Yakitori guy. And I asked myself, "Was it really that good?" Truthfully, I don't know. Ultimately that's up to you guys so for those who don't read DXD fanfics at all I recommend you read it once and tell me how you feel about it in the reviews section of "How Naruto Uzumaki Ended Up In An Ecchi World". I mean non DXD fans will give a more brutal and honest review so I will know what to do.**

 **So that is it for today, stay safe, eat good food, don't stare at the screen all the time. Greet people with a smile even those just passing by on the streets.**

 **See you next time.**

 **BUH BYE!**


	20. Order Before Chaos

**Hey there everyone. Firstly I would like to tell why I was so late in writing this. Firstly that block that hit my writing skills still hasn't gone away. Two, my study pressure has increased and I am not decreasing the importance of that.**

 **And three finally…it's been a tough week for me. My khala (Bengali for aunt, mother's sister), Yasmin Begum passed away three days ago. May Allah have mercy on her soul and forgive her of any and all sins committed. You see she was diagnosed with cancer around last year. Despite the treatment her time had come and she left us all. I was at my class when I received the news and it took all the restraint I have to not break down at that moment. You see she was also, how do I put this. 'Special'….as in her mental state was handicapped and she acted like a child. So seeing someone like that pass away had a significant impact on me. So I ask all of you to pray for her soul. Thank you all and now for the chapter I kept you waiting for.**

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION**

 **NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PIERROT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA, SHUIESHA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

 **CONTENT USED FROM OTHER EXISTING FRANCHISES ALSO DO NOT BELONG TO ME**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THE OFFICIAL RELEASE**

* * *

Location: Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni, Kenso no Kuni

A month had passed since the second phase of the Chunnin Exams had ended. That same night another incident would occur. Konoha General Hospital, a place of safety and recovery had become a ground where the opposite had occurred. A fire had broken out from inside the hospital. Reports had stated that oxygen cylinders inside the building had exploded due to excess internal pressure and coupled with a gas leak had set the flames that engulfed the building. A total of 33 people had lost their lives which included doctors, nurses and patients. Some of the victims' bodies had been burnt beyond recognition. It had been a sad day, and Konoha had been in mourning for the lives lost.

However, today was not a day of sadness. Today was rather a special day as a lot of guests would be arriving this day to Konoha. The Daimyo Sosuke Kaji would be arriving today. He had to attend since this was the Hidden Village that was basically a military force for the Land of Fire. While many would argue that the Daimyo was more important than the Hokage, several counter arguments could prove the opposite too. The Daimyo and the Hokage were both equally important, however their respective roles were a bit different.

Whereas the Hokage was more or less a militaristic general of the country, the Daimyo would be the financial drive of the country itself. Both depended on the other. However, compared to the shinobi life the life of those of the royal families of the Daimyo was much more elegant and carefree. They would roam freely with their personal groups of specialized guards, for example the Twelve Ninja Guardians of Fire Country, and partake in life as they see fit.

Sometimes the Daimyo would also showcase bragging rights with the Daimyo of other countries. As such, the Chunnin Exams could be considered a large betting event between the two. So it was not surprising that Gen Boufuu, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was coming here since Sunagakure shinobi were in the finals. After all he could brag and bet with the Fire Daimyo about how the children of the Yondaime Kazekage were participating and were by some means the clear cut winner of this tournament. So the entire village was in a festive mood at the moment.

Even the civilian side of the village was cheerful at the fact on how Konoha will prove how they were the strongest village. And in one sense, they were right. Greater performances by the genin and would-be chunnin did bring in attention towards the village showcasing their futuristic crop of shinobi. This also meant that people would be naturally inclined to hire a particular village's shinobi.

Yes it was a very good day in Konoha as the sun shone and the light shined brightly over the village. Small breezes flowed around as people went on with their daily lives and were in sheer anticipation of watching the Chunnin Exams, some would see it live at the Arena whereas others would be watching a live version of it on their televisions. Yes, it was a very peaceful day in the Hidden Leaf.

…..

…..

However, where there is light there is also darkness. Away from the sights of the common people and the shinobi of the Leaf, a conspiracy danced in the shadows waiting to be unleashed.

* * *

Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni.

The Toad Sage was sitting on a boulder with his legs crossed near the Naka River. Even as a child he remembered this place. Back then everyone was allowed to come here since the Uchiha Clan Compound used to be near the heart of the village. The Naka Shrine was there since forever, as his memory served and wasn't part of the now moved Uchiha Clan Compound. The loneliness of the Compound was unsettling to him.

It felt hollow and murky. It was almost as if one could see the anguished spirits of the fallen Uchiha once the witching hour would arrive. Death had truly left its mark in this particular area.

However, even in this ghost of a compound there was life.

And right now it was screaming at him, quite literally.

"Oi! Ero Sennin!" came the voice of a fourteen, nearing fifteen year old girl's shout.

The white haired tall man stopped his musings as he turned around to see his goddaughter standing behind him a little distance away with her hands on her hips. Right now she was wearing one of those damned orange outfits again.

For the life of him he couldn't figure out her obsession with the color orange.

Did it represent something higher? Or did she truly believe something as attention gripping as that could possibly be the chosen color of the Gods? Or did she *blergh* actually _like_ it?

Somewhere in the back of his wise mind, he did not want to find out the answer to that question. In fact now that he had noticed, it wasn't the same damned orange outfit she wore. She was wearing a black, full sleeved shirt underneath the orange zip-up jacket. The jacket was zipped up right below her neck, and there were black colors running down the sides of the jacket. She was also wearing black, fingerless gloves which metal plates on the top. She finished her attire with dark orange pants that had white tapes on the knees and black shinobi sandals. She also had her sword, Ginken by her left side and two pouches behind her back. Her hair had been cut a bit shorter, much to her boyfriend's dismay, and her blonde, silky hair in pigtails only came down to the middle of her back.

Her godfather, not known to her knowledge, was relatively glad she had cut down on the orange factor of it all. Though, in his opinion it would be better if she got rid of it all. But hey, he didn't want to be punched in the face again. Five days after they had begun their training, Naruto had insisted that he and Kasumi be given restriction seals for the betterment of their training. Now, the only way to get Restriction Seals on your body would be to have the matrix of it painted on the back and under Naruto's Sharingan death glare and an **Adamantine Sealing Chain** with a very sharp edge pointing at his neck from Kasumi, he only painted the Restriction Matrix on her back.

Restriction Seals themselves had ten levels. Level 10 would often make a person's body numb and paralysis was not an uncommon scene. Only a Level Eight Seal Master could draw such a seal so perfectly without killing the person who would be infused with the seal. Jiraiya was a certified Seal Master of the Eighth Distinguished Level and soon to be nine if he didn't spend half his time peeking on women or getting laid.

People could shame him all they want, but he was a certified player known throughout the nations. Though the men didn't show it outright, he was a god amongst a certain caliber of men aka perverts, both boisterous and closeted ones. But to these brats as he had called them, he was a very strong shinobi but a shamless pervert. However, the Uchiha didn't brush him down that much. In fact he was more lenient with Jiraiya's behavior, only when it came to Kasumi did he react.

Jiraiya had to admit he had lost faith in the shinobi of today. Ever since the Uchiha Clan Massacre, the Leaf's shinobi standard had dropped significantly. Seriously **Bunshin** , **Kawarimi** and **Henge** along with wielding projectile weapons and a written test was enough to certify you as a shinobi? He had laughed at that curriculum for a straight thirty minutes. So he expected this batch of shinobi to be, well, pathetic. True to his words, every batch after that was outright pathetic with the exception of a few. Kunoichi kidnapping and rape cases became something of the norm. What made it worse was the fact that this was not a common scenario regarding Konoha only, other Hidden Villages also had followed suite with the new system. It was sad and demeaning to shinobi entirely.

True, Jiraiya craved peace more than anything else, but this was just asking for trouble and he lost a great deal of friends to wars, conflicts and a variety of other forms of daggers and cloaks. There was absolutely no hope for this generation.

However, Naruto Uchiha had proven his thought process wrong. That kid….no he was no kid. Jiraiya had to keep reminding himself that this kid was an actual chunnin and was currently one of the people who knew actively about the Invasion. He had fought against his former teammate and came out without receiving a major injury of any sort. That alone spoke of his strength and there was the fact that he was calmly hiding this from Kasumi, though there were small cracks in his masks every now and then when it came to regarding his girlfriend.

Kasumi Uzumaki herself was no pushover. True, her chakra control left much to be desired but she was a genin yet she could kunai balance on a body of water, what made it even more impressive was the fact that her chakra levels bordered on ridiculous levels and then he could rant on about the titanic Nine Tailed Fox inside her gut. Still the girl had proven her mettle and the last month was highly productive. Her nature affinity training regarding **Fūton** , **Doton** and **Suiton** had come along beautifully in addition to the massive **Shadow Clone** training spam she could pull off so easily.

He was proud, she had her mother's tenacity and her father's drive. Jiraiya had contemplated on whether she should learn _that_ jutsu yet but settled on making her a summoner of the Toad Contract. Things had gone hectic when she at first summoned a small toad by the name of Gamakichi at first, she pulled her hair out of anger and used a large amount of chakra to summon Gamabunta next. Gamabunta of course, had to see if she could pass his 'trial' which she did beautifully but due to the large mess he made Naruto forced the giant toad to clean house, or he'd be using genjutsu on him to do it. That was fun to watch.

And then there was the fact that Kasumi had willingly spoken to the fox for the first time. Naruto had induced her into a genjutsu but he himself did not enter her mind, saying this was something she needed to do on her own. She then came out and flashed them her patented foxy grin saying something along the lines of 'big fuzzy agreed to the deal and is going to pay chakra as rent dattebane!' Yes that sounded exactly like what she said.

"Ero-sennin!" Kasumi yelled out once more. "How long are you going to sit there?"

"Silence, gaki." The Perverted Sannin replied. "Can't you see the great Jiraiya-sama is here writing his new novel." Of course he didn't expect her to understand.

People just unabashedly assumed that he wrote smut, smut and smut. Those who labeled him as nothing more than a smut writer clearly never read any of his books, there was a story in it with substantial character development. However, due to the high amount of sexual content in the series people had assumed him to be nothing more than a smut writer. Blame his publisher Kishimoto for making his novels that way. 'People want to read about sex.' He said and he wasn't wrong.

Jiraiya was fucking loaded ever since the debut of the Icha Icha Series.

Now if only his first novel had sold this much. Then again, people will never like what they don't understand and his first novel was by no means an easy one to understand. However, he was shocked to find a copy of his first book in Naruto's house. The young Uchiha simply explained to him that his mother had decided to name him after the main character in his book for his sheer tenacity and unwavering will. The Toad Sage was genuinely shocked at that fact someone other than Minato and a few of his closer colleagues took his book that seriously.

Speaking of which the boy still hadn't return from his little 'training trip'.

"Is the gaki back yet?" the Sannin asked the blonde haired girl who shook her head.

"Not yet, I'm getting a bit worried." Kasumi said as her violet orbs flickered with tension. For the last month, Naruto had upped his training schedule more than she could imagine. What surprised her the most was the fact that he was already on Level Two Restriction Seals from five days later on. His spars with both Jiriya and herself made them see how much in tune he was with his restricted movements. Everything was going well for him as Jiraiya stated that the brat was better than him regarding **Katon** , as for **Fūton** and **Suiton** the Toad Sage helped him in that regard greatly as he too applied the Shadow Clone method. With **Raiton** , the gaki was a natural and Kakashi's scrolls on that particular nature release was

Of course, that all changed 13 days ago. After Kasumi had gotten the Kasumi Toad Contract, Garoujin the direwolf cub that he had saved in the ruins of Uzu had appeared in a puff of smoke. Garoujin arrived here saying that since he really did not get a chance to be properly initiated as a Summoner of the Direwolf Contract properly he would have to be Reverse Summoned to Kabe no Kita. Apparently not only would he would he be properly initiated as a Direwolf Summoner but also, after Garoujin went back to confirm it the direwolves would also teach him how increase his fire affinity. Direwolves were naturally adept at using fire, also among the direwolves was a rare breed that used ice. Naruto after assurance from both Jiraiya and a lot of lashing from Kasumi agreed to go there. Both said that due to his unnatural high affinity for fire, he would be perfect for it.

And so, Naruto Uchiha had gone with Garoujin. He came back thirty minutes later freezing to grab some clothes, most of them were for the winter season. Apparently, nearly all of Kabe no Kita was an island of never ending winter. That was why fire was a specialty of the Direwolves, their intense flames could melt down solid ice on that island when they wanted to. Direwolves also had no problems with heat in general because apparently there was a level underground that was called Hi no Fukami that had grueling temperatures. He had not come back since then.

"Don't worry, that gaki will be back." Jiraiya said quite confident in the young Uchiha. He didn't know about Itachi's younger brother's potential, but this kid was far beyond his years and he got this strong without letting anyone know in the village. It was absurd to say the least. Of course this also raised questions as to _how_ strong he was. Even Jiraiya did not know that, during their spars the Uchiha would always time his attacks and then stop after sometime like he did not want the Toad Sage to know his full battle capacity.

It was annoying. But Jiraiya could respect his privacy. After all it was thanks to him that Jiraiya had been able to place several seals across Konoha. While it was no **Hiraishin** , the Locator Seals would work as signals where chakra activity would be haphazard in nature and Konoha nin could rush to that place in due time. Safety shelters for the general civilians had been prepared beforehand including access to certain compounds from clans minus the Senju and the Uchiha. Mainly because, there was no Senju around to give access to the Compound and two, the Uchiha Clan was technically outside the village. Escorting the public out from the main blocks of the Village to the Uchiha Clan Compound was just asking for trouble.

Plans were made to counter all sorts of possible attacks, but the question remained on how to fight back against the Ichibi. Sure seals would help, but what if Jiraiya was busy fighting off the forces? Maybe Naruto could suppress the beast with his Sharingan, if he wasn't too occupied. Kasumi had the **Kongo Fusa** but would her chains be powerful enough to keep a Bijuu down? Regardless, Jiraiya had made seals anyway, at this point with the Ichibi it was a gamble. But it was a risk they'd have to take. Maybe if there were four Kage level shinobi with them to perform a **Four Ray Crimson Barrier** then it would be possible.

But fate never really tends to favor one side, she would always change her sides.

"I know." The voice of his goddaughter broke him from his current train of thought as she spoke. She was worried. Not just because of the impending Invasion that would soon be unleashed but also because of Naruto. To be honest, this was the first time since she started living with him that she was apart from him for such a long amount of time. She didn't sleep for the first three nights until she collapsed.

Jiraiya despite being a grade 'A' pervert actually scolded her like a parent, or what she thought how a parent would scold a child. She frowned at him, but welcomed it nonetheless.

It felt weird yet, giddy at the same time.

"Still," she continued as she looked at the direction their house was in. She was half expecting the blue eyed near fifteen year old to appear and pull her into a hug. She sighed and continued, "I'm worried about how much torture he'll put himself through. He can get carried away when he trains."

"I don't know about that." Jiraiya said. Honestly he did not know what the black haired boy's limit was. He always made sure that he never got fully exhausted. He always liked to maintain some energy. Like it was some form of insurance. He was very shrewd.

Jiraiya had found Level Five Explosive Tag Seals all drawn by him and it was planted around the house and the lawn. It would be activated on his signal of course, or as he understood later Kasumi's orders. Brat had learned how to make a Level Five Chakra Recognition Seal. Talk about extreme measures.

"But I wouldn't worry about him. Besides, I'm sure your boyfriend will be back and kicking ass soon." Jiraiya said and he watched the blonde girl perk up at that sentence. She even had a toothy grin and Jiraiya noted just how much she resembled her mother during that small moment of fleeting nostalgia. 'If her hair was completely red, she would've looked just like Kushina.' He thought sadly.

"Yup. Naru's going to face me at the finals and then one of us will win the tournament dattebane!" She said and slammed her right fist into the open palm of her left hand to emphasize the fact. "Then we're going to go after Hebi-teme for trying to attack us and planning an invasion. When I get my hands on him, I'm going to make me some leather belts."

"Ho!" Jiraiya said with a haughty expression. "You make it sound like you're going to the finals and you're going to beat the gaki."

"Of course I am dattebane!" She said with confidence and the Toad Sage put his hand on her head as he was standing nearer to her.

"We'll see then, gaki. If you do well enough, I might even teach you a jutsu that the Yondaime was famous for." The Toad Sage said. 'It is your birthright after all.' He added the last part in his mind.

"Sugoi." Kasumi said as she thought about herself, more specifically her abilities.

She was fairly confident in her abilities. She was faster than before, much faster and her strength was overall more. Her Naru always did tell her that physically she maybe stronger than Sasuke. When she added that why she wasn't muscled up like a freak, Naruto told her that due to her large reserves she was more or less seeping chakra into her blows unconsciously and due to the large reserves such usage did not let her feel drained, that and she previously used to jump around all over the village without molding chakra so some form of brute strength was already there despite her figure. The Restriction Seals helped too, she was on level two after one month. **Kage Bunshin** were the best and anyone who said otherwise would incur her wrath! Her skill with the sword was, well as she put it 'naturally awesome' and true to her words she was adept with a blade. And to top it all off, Ero-sennin was going to teach her a jutsu the Yondaime used.

'Jiji better prepare that hat for me!' She thought with stars in her eyes as she imagined Sarutobi giving her the Hokage hat and robes because of her achievement. She could see that Naruto was standing there clapping and then taking out a box as he got down on one knee to propose to her. She blushed as she thought about it. But she wasn't scared about it. However, a more interesting thought came to her mind. 'Will our children be called Uzumaki or Uchiha? Argh! It's so confusing!'

Jiraiya chuckled as he saw her blush a bit, no doubt she was thinking about Naruto, and later she was looking confused with hints of frustration. Honestly it was amusing to watch her behave like that. He then looked out to the sky.

"Keep your eye out, alright kid?" the Toad Sage said with a tone of grave seriousness. Kasumi stopped her daydreaming and listened to his words attentively. She knew how serious the situation was, but the only difference was she hoped, no she _knew_ that all of them would come out unscathed of the ordeal.

"Don't worry Ero-sennin." The orange wearing girl said. "Leave it to me."

* * *

ROOT Base #3, Underground Tunnel System, Konohagakure no Sato

"How is he?" a certain pale skinned man asked. He was looking at a person who was currently lying down on a bed as his body was wrapped with several bandages.

The Snake Sannin was a bit angry at his subordinate's condition. He was absolutely useless today. Though, he couldn't be angry at Kabuto. Naruto Uchiha was no joke and his apprentice's overconfidence had given him severe burns on his body. Orochimaru and Danzo had set a portion of the hospital on fire to get Kabuto out and then place a body in his stead with significant amount of his blood and DNA mixed into it.

If Orochimaru could reconstruct the First Hokage's cells from a minute amount placing a double with Kabuto's DNA was child's play.

"He will heal, but he's not going to be able to make it today Orochimaru-sama." Said the red haired boy. He really did not want to be here. He would rather get out of Konoha as soon as possible. Hopefully he could get out with the excuse of getting Kabuto to a better facility. In fact, why isn't he saying it now? Oh, right. Because he didn't want to get stabbed!

"Take Kabuto and go back to Otogakure." Orochimaru said all of a sudden. Mentioned person was awake when he heard this statement and let his disagreement known.

"Orochimaru-sama," the white haired spy spoke up "I can stay here and help. You need someone to assist you later on."

"Kabuto you far more useful to me well than in an injured state. Besides," the Snake Sannin said as he took a pause "today is a special day to me after all. The day the Third Hokage died." He had also dispatched two shinobi to grab Naruto and Sasuke when the chance would arise.

Kabuto Yakushi was feeling a bit dejected at the predicament he was in. That scum of an Uchiha was responsible for this state of his! Kabuto had many notable personality traits and pride was one of his prime features. Naruto Uchiha just didn't harm him physically but injured his pride more than anything. Kabuto had even opted to use his **Chakra no Mesu** against him and couldn't even get a fucking blow! He wanted to cleave his organs from the inside out. Then Naruto Uchiha trapped him with an explosion from his clone followed by a fucking fire dragon. And the worst part was, Naruto was probably letting him live because he willed it.

It was absolutely humiliating to him.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." The medic nin said with gritted teeth. He hated feeling….useless, ever since that day in his life when he was far younger.

"Good." The snake eyed Sannin said as he smiled with a bloodthirsty grin. "All of you are to leave now and prepare the anesthetics for my new body. Make enough supplies for two of them. Make sure you tell the other medics that, Kariya."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." The red haired, bespectacled teen said. He was fucking glad that he was getting the hell out of here. He had no intention of dying out here today.

* * *

ROOT Base #1, Underground Tunnel System

"Danzo-sama," an ANBU with a hound mask spoke up, his mask had the symbol 'Ne' on it "our forces have been assembled. All 250 of them are awaiting your orders."

"I see, go back to the group Hound. Your next orders will be issued later." The leader of the Foundation said. He saw his agent nod from his visible lone eye.

Danzo Shimura stood alone in the small runway. He looked up at the light that was seeping into the base. No longer would he hide in the shadows. He could finally crawl out of this hole that he had gotten so accustomed to.

Hokage.

A position he had strived for, a designation he deserved. He had Koharu and Homura's support. They did not know about him being acquaintances with Orochimaru but they were his puppets more or less and they would dance to the tune he would play. He smiled a bit. A genuine smile of satisfaction. Finally, he would be the leader he was born to be. He would make Konoha the greatest Hidden Village again. Today he would get one more Bijuu and then make both of them loyal to the village.

Today an old tree would be cut down and a new seed takes its place. Its roots will be strong, stronger than it ever was.

* * *

Chunnin Exam Arena

The people were flocking to the stadium with cheerful faces. Children ran about in excitement and kept discussing with each other on who would win. It was not surprising that most of the Konoha civilians were fawning over the two Uchiha. They had every right to. An Uchiha was no ordinary shinobi, and the fact that both of them were in the finals of the tournament was no surprise.

The surprise came when some of the people were actually curious on seeing 'her' battle. Mostly out of curiosity though, they still resented her but hey she must've gotten this far for a reason, right? And she was a kunoichi of the Leaf, so some of the loathing had decreased….even if for only today.

The same could not be said for the competitors though.

"This is frustrating." Came the voice of one lazy Nara who was standing in the competitors section.

Alongside him were his other comrades of the Leaf. Kasumi Uzumaki had a shit eating grin on her face, eager to show off her skills while Shino Aburame was, well maintaining his stoic expression without any problem. The high collared jacket also helped conceal the lower part of his face, so any chance of seeing his expression was next to nothing. However, one could tell he was serious.

The same could not be said for the Nara who was, as he stated, frustrated.

"I could've been at home sleeping." Shikamaru said as his eyes threatened to close down and just be rid of this damn affair.

"They why did you bother coming you lazy jerk?" the question came from none other than the bubbly blonde of Konoha.

For the life of her, she did not know why Shikamaru was always this lazy. At the Academy he was always doing everything with half the effort, well that assumption was made because he always fell asleep during one of the tests or spars for half the duration.

"I didn't have a choice. Otherwise, my mom told me I'd be getting introduced to friend of hers. And no the friend is not a real person, its metal frying pan." The Nara said with as less energy as he could spare. Even Gaara of the Desert looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

And people call him weird.

"Nara-san." Shino spoke and everyone looked at him with widened eyes, minus Gaara of course. He just glanced at the Kikaichū user as if he had grown a second head. "You should be a bit more serious with your career. Being a shinobi is not a trivial matter and if you get promoted to chunnin, your duties will become that much more important."

…

…

"You….can….talk?" Kasumi said with an awestruck expression. The Aburame for his part didn't look surprised. He merely looked at the others who were staring at him.

"I can talk. What gave you that impression, Uzumaki-san?" the Kikaichū user asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Gomen, it's just I never heard you talk before….ever." the blonde Uzumaki said with a sheepish expression.

"But we did talk before, once in the Academy." Shino said and the person he said it to put her hand under her chin, trying to remember said incident. "You don't remember?"

"No not really." Kasumi replied. "Did something memorable happen or…umm, are you okay?" She asked with a confused expression.

"I see." Shino said as he was now standing in the corner away from everyone. Dark shadows hung over him as his voice remained neutral. He pressed his black shades further up against his eyes, and spoke up. "I am not that memorable."

'What the heck? Why did he get depressed so easily?' Kasumi thought with a sweat drop on her head. Seriously, why was everyone in her class so weird?

Sasuke was stuck up emo obsessed with revenge, Sakura had a banshee voice and was way too into Sasuke, Ino was fucking annoying but definitely not because she had a large crush on her boyfriend, Kiba was a borderline sexual deviant, Shikamaru was lazy, Chouji was….well he's fat, Hinata was way too shy and Naruto dazed off way too much in his thoughts.

She was the only normal one. Well in her mind anyway.

"Mendokusai." Shikamaru said as this one phrase, his favorite one, described his entire peril of taking part in this affair. He furrowed his brows as he thought and automatically he cancelled out all the noises around him.

Despite his lazy exterior, the young Nara was one of the most intelligent people in the village. His father had informed him that something big might go down at the finals, but his old man didn't specify what it would be saying that Shikamaru was not qualified in rank to know 'what' it was. He was already making plans on what to do with his fight against Sabaku no Temari. His scenarios included winning, losing and even drawing the fight.

The endgame should include him retaining a fair amount of chakra, and the girl was dangerous with that troublesome fan of hers.

The Nara and the Uzumaki weren't the only Leaf genin that knew about the Invasion plan. Sasuke Uchiha did know but he was nowhere near the stadium right now. Sakura Haruno was there and she was ready with her weapons. She had learned another **Doton** jutsu in the month and didn't stop her training there. She was a kunoichi and would live up to the name of it. Shino Aburame was also one of them, his father had told but the message was also nearly open ended in nature similar to how the Nara heir was told.

The jounin, tokubetsu jounin and some ANBU were stationed in the stadium. They were aware of what was going to happen today, but were keeping up their masks. They couldn't afford to let anything happen today. Unconsciously all the trusted jounin and tokubetsu jounin in the Village Hidden in the Leaves had one collective thought.

'Orochimaru will not succeed today.'

* * *

Uchiha Clan Compound

*POOF*

A cloud of smoke settled in the middle of the Uchiha Compound. The smoke conjured from the summoning slowly began to dissipate as it disappeared into the air. The person in question was wearing heavy clothing. He was wearing something akin to a cape that thick animal skin on it. Wolves were predators. The cape he wore had a significant amount of fur around the shoulders and it kept him warm. But right now, he was feeling a bit hot. He took off the cloak and was wearing a full body suit that the Direwolves had made for him. Even that suit felt constricting because of the rising heat he could feel trying to explode out of his body.

But business beckons first. His training had actually been finished three days ago. He had gone to the Land of Tea to meet his contact and to learn a few more things he needed to be aware of. Contingencies were made with the instructions he was given. It seems that there was a new player that would take his place on the board for now. Though the young Uchiha found him a bit strange, the other man also let him know that he found him equally strange. And Naruto Uchiha was a bit worried about that man. Not just because of his appearance but also because of the power he held. It was almost terrifying.

After getting the information he needed, he went back to Kabe no Kita. He wouldn't lie, he actually found the place interesting. For training purposes, it was nearly perfect. Harsh winds of winter bite down your bones as you try to move around in a never ending hale of snow that felt like stones being rained upon him. The Direwolves themselves were no pushovers when it came to training. To them, their manipulation and mastery of fire was their pride. And then he would be sent down to Hi no Fukami or as he had started to call it, the Abyss.

The place was hell in short. He wondered how it was possible for such a bone chilling island to have such a place underneath that housed flames hotter than he could make. However, due the slave driving training he was able to take his flames to a much more 'acceptable' level as the Direwolves had pointed out. Each time he entered and left the Abyss his body instinctually run away as fast as he could and then proceed to jump into the cruel and cold blankets of snow that covered the island, which comforted him as the heat from his body would evaporate. Duality was in perfect symmetry on that island.

Perhaps an act of Kami he mused. Up until now, his eyes were closed. He slowly opened them and his blue eyes scattered around the area to see familiar lonely place. Often times he would merely stand still in the Compound as he reminisced. He tried to remember the place when people used to walk around. True the Uchiha were not all gumdrops and ice-cream compared to the other clans of the Leaf, however they did know how to smile. He could remember how the general populace used to smile, and Naruto was pretty sure that Sasuke remembered it too.

Now that he really thought about it, he could understand Sasuke's hesitance and anti-social behavior to an extent. However, the fact that he was generally an ass sometimes was different.

For a long time, all he could remember when he stood alone in the Compound was the stench of death polluting the air and defiling his nostrils. Blood painted the streets, walls and windows of nearly every house along with their floorboards. Corpses lied here and there as he could remember some of their arms twitching, a final reflex before rigor mortis took over their bodies. His fully matured Sharingan was activated when this scene had been imprinted into his mind. Due to the eidetic memory the famed dojutsu provided, the scene of the clan's genocide was something similar to the phantom pain sensation.

He had nightmares nearly every night. He would wake up with a cold sweat and find himself drained of energy as the adrenaline left his body. He could remember the hellish genjutsu of seeing the members of his clan being slaughtered by the Genocidal Prodigy. Two deaths stood out more than anything else. His Mikoto-obaa-san's death as he remembered her being stabbed through the back and his older brother Shisui's way of dying.

Still the very image of his brother being killed had been traumatic enough for him to awaken the Mangekyou at such a young age.

The blessing was more of a curse for he viewed the way he awakened it as a ghost who would haunt him forever.

The nightmares had stopped at one point and he was able to move on slowly from the anguish the Village Elders had caused on him. If he didn't, he would be insulting his brother's legacy. He would rather die than spit on his request. His pride as an Uchiha forbade him to do so. Also, his life wasn't his anymore. His life was now connected to another and he would not lose her.

Some might call it an obsession. Maybe they were right. If he wanted to hold on to the one person he loved with all his heart, whom he would gladly give up his life for so that she could live….he would be proud to be called obsessed. And now that there were people after her it was more incentive for him to grow stronger and protect her.

Naruto Uchiha did not care what other people besides the ones he cared about thought about him. He tries his best to not be an antisocial Uchiha, however his genetically engineered mind can only take so much bullshit from people who didn't understand his mind. Perhaps he would retain some of his Uchiha-ness after all. He could also remember Shisui often times adorning a cold mask that promised nothing but anguish when small mobs would berate him in public. Those were one of the few times he remembered his brother getting angry.

And in the clan there was an unspoken rule about this. To anger an Uchiha meant death would be visiting them soon.

Sighing, he slowly strode forward to his house. The grassy area around his house was as he had left it, wild and uneven. He would have to cut the grasses down once more. It was his family's house and he was attached to it with every fiber in his body. He smiled a bit as memories often times replayed in his mind. Sitting out here with his mother, as her warm and caring hands gently ruffled his hair. Her calming voice that lulled him to sleep and her embrace was his safe haven.

He also remembered how Shisui actually put their front lawn on fire. Then he was set on fire by their mother. Mikoto Uchiha would often times stand out here and help him with his shuriken jutsu, in that particular field even she outclassed Itachi which the prodigy freely admitted without the slightest hint of shame, of course his Obaa-chan's teasing was another matter altogether.

Then his more recent memories of when he had finally admitted his true feelings to Kasumi that fateful night. How the moon was shining so brightly as its light brought the attention of Kami herself upon them. Then she also reciprocated those feelings….and finally when his lips had brushed against hers before they kissed each other wholly. First kisses were that eventful and he could never forget that particular memory. He couldn't stop the small smile from turning into a full one that made him look that much better.

He then shook his head and entered the house and looked around. It was tidy, not that he was complaining but sometimes Kasumi would be very…haphazard in her way of living. Of course living with him for the last five, nearly six, months had made her change some of her habits. Mostly because Naruto himself had insisted on doing the chores while she would sit back. She later told him it was her duty as much as it was his dattebane!

He would chuckle each time he remembered how she was basically in a tug of war with him regarding the broom, poor broom didn't make it that night as he snapped in two. After that Naruto learned that in life, the wife is always right even though they weren't married, yet. He then walked across the living room but a certain something caught his eye. Right at the dinner table where there were five seats, five because even though Obito was dead his mother didn't remove his chair from that spot. He would always be a part of the family, alive or dead.

But that was not the object that had specifically demanded his attention.

No, that honor belonged to a bowl of rice that had beautifully cut pieces of cooked vegetable that had crispy shrimps on top of it. The bowl itself had a glass lid on it so that it doesn't get too cold. And judging the by small layer of steaming fog piling up, it hadn't been long since it was put there. Beside the bowl was a small note. The young Uchiha picked up the folded note and began to read whatever was on it.

* * *

 _Dear Naru, sorry I couldn't be here. But you were late dattebane! Do you know how weird it was without you all these days?! I swear I think we have a ghost in the closet, it keeps making weird knocking noises on the door. Anyways, I just made this awesome bowl of fried rice for you. I threw in some shrimps as well, Ero-sennin helped too! Who knew the pervert was a good cooker! Make sure you eat it…otherwise. Well, you know how that song goes._

 _Love, the future Hokage of the Hidden Leaf and your girlfriend Kasumi Uzumaki._

* * *

Naruto chuckled once more at the way the note was written. He wondered how exactly she would handle all the paperwork one day when she did become Hokage. Yes, when not if. It was his duty to make sure she would become Hokage. He wondered how she could still care for all the people despite the hatred that had been thrown her way since her birth. Of course there was also the matter of her birth.

Itachi did tell him who her real parents were, apparently Mikoto Uchiha had previously tried to adopt her but for reasons that concerned the 'greater good of the village' she was not allowed to. Nor could she provide financial help as she fell under the orphanage stipend that was taken care of by the _esteemed_ Civilian Council. For the life he could not understand at first why she would do that, but then Itachi relayed to him that Kasumi was apparently the daughter of her best friend.

That explained a lot, that did sound like something Mikoto would do.

Then there was the situation with Kasumi's heritage, something that had outright angered the young Uchiha. Itachi wasn't lying, and Naruto had labeled himself as an idiot for not realizing whose daughter Kasumi was. The blonde hair was a dead giveaway, but it was probably her lovely violet eyes that made him think otherwise. Itachi's words made more sense when Jiraiya had taken in interest in her training and gave her the Toad Contract, it was her heritage after all.

Naruto went into his room and changed his clothes to something more suitable. He was now wearing an attire that his brother had been seen sporting every so now and then. He wore a black high-collared shirt, a dark brown, midriff-exposing flak jacket, and light blue pants. He wraps bandages around his ankles that were exposed previously and the standard shinobi sandals that left his toes visible. The jacket he wore had a harness for his tanto which ran across his chest and fastened over both his shoulders, since there was a harness he placed a tanto to make it look complete. His hitai-ate which had the Leaf symbol on it with the blue clothing was worn around his forehead as his wild unkempt hair covered some of the parts. Two of his bangs framed the sides of his face as his growing hair had once more reached the nape of his neck.

He then unsealed a scroll and took out two armguards. He wore the two black armguards on which there were dark, purple braces as well. There were kanji symbols on them that read 'Heiki' meaning 'Weapons', which Jiraiya had helped him make. Jiraiya had admitted, much to his reluctance, that the brat was better than at him with weapons. A little better as the Toad Sage had said it.

Regardless, he helped him create the Instant Weapon Braces since he could use it better. This was a special "ninja tool summon" that allowed the user to seal ninja tools like swords or kunai into a scroll or their clothes beforehand, allowing them to be called upon when needed. The ninja tools can be summoned in an instant just by touching the sealing "marks" which can be drawn anywhere. The greatest advantage of this technique is that the time between taking out a ninja tool, taking the right stance and actually throwing it is greatly reduced. Furthermore, because the summoned ninja tools can remain hidden until right before they are used, if this technique is mastered, there are an exceptional number of possible tactics. A large number of ninja tools can be stored within the sealing marks, which can make the efficiency of this technique last longer.

Yes, Naruto Uchiha was officially proud of the fact he had an aptitude in sealing and some of Kasumi's zealousness regarding the sacred art of her clan had rubbed out on him even more. Honestly he could not believe why people underestimated the power of Fuuinjutsu. After inspecting all his gear one more time he went out to eat the food Kasumi had prepared for him. it was good, very good. Seems that Jiraiya had taught her some good things while he wasn't around, but then again she did know how to cook good food even before the Toad Sage arrived on scene.

It was only because of those damned merchants she wasn't allowed to buy the proper groceries and had to live on ramen from Ichiraku's and ramen cups. Naruto had carefully sealed all of her previously empty ramen cups as nearly each of the ones had important notes and dates written on it. The cups served as diary of her life and Naruto didn't want her to lose them.

After finishing his food, Naruto carefully washed the dish. The main reason he wasn't rushing was because he knew that his match wasn't going to start yet. If anything, Kasumi's match would begin now and if the Hyuga was as good as Naruto measured him out to be, the match had not reached a good pace yet. Stepping out of his house, he saw a crow sitting out on the power pole.

The crow's red eyes were gleaming as the sunlight reflected off it. The young Uchiha could also feel a few chakra signatures outside the Compound. Those worthless mongrels weren't even suppressing their chakra properly and they were here to kidnap him probably for Orochimaru. How laughable. The crow came flying forward on its own opting to sit on his shoulder as it awaited instructions. Naruto took out a piece of parchment from his pouch as the black feathered bird took the parchment and gripped it with its beak.

"You know what to do." Naruto said to the crow as it flew away into the endless blue sky before it disappeared in smoke.

The Uchiha's vision was also focused on the sky itself. It was perfect Konoha weather today. It was such a shame that a lot of chaos would be taking place on such a lovely day, this fueled his anger even more. He generally didn't complain but the traitorous snake had left a bad taste in his mouth.

And his problems wouldn't end there. He had to deal with eight similar problems that were as strong as the rogue Sannin. Naruto soon reached the end of the Compound and he could sense five chakra signatures perfectly. He scoffed in annoyance, here he was trying to reserve his chakra for when the Invasion went down and the Snake Sannin had sent five chunnin level shinobi to possibly abduct him.

'No.' he thought in his mind as his eyes darted around the surroundings. 'He just sent them here to drain my chakra a bit. Too bad, he didn't know exactly how much I improved in one month.'

The Uchiha finished his thoughts, he stood still for a while and then, he stepped out of the Compound. He could only take nine steps before standard ninja wire wrapped itself around him and he looked bored. Five _weak_ shinobi appeared wearing the standard Otogakure shinobi outfit. Their flak jackets were black and for a single moment the black haired boy praised Orochimaru for actually making their attire look something not to scoff at.

However their abilities left much to be desired. He could hear them saying something about that their mission was complete. How the heck was their mission complete when this was just a clone, a rare type of clone but it was just a copy of the original. The real Naruto was looking at the group of five currently surrounding his clone and resisted the urge to facepalm.

True he had learnt to conceal his chakra signature from Jiraiya, who as per his reputation was a master of stealth, but at the very least they shouldn't be gloating so much.

He made the tiger hand seal and saw his clone was standing still. Then fire burst forth from the clone as it turned into bright orange flames that spread like wildfire in the wind itself as the ones holding the wires were the first ones to get burnt. Skin was melting off, their flesh was burning and screams of anguish were heard as the real Naruto stood behind them. Only two of them didn't fall for the **Hi Bunshin / Fire Clone** , although in his defense they were a bit far from the clone to be caught in its range.

One of the lackeys had lost both of arms, one had lost the left side of his face and the other one was midsection was still on fire.

Naruto slowly put his hand on the handle of the tanto near his right shoulder and looked at them with silent rage emanating from his blue eyes. These weaklings weren't worthy of facing him with his Sharingan on, so he would give them deaths that they deserved. True he could've just let them run away and live, but these were people who were going to take him to Orochimaru and probably wreck havoc on the village later, they might even take some spoils of war. So why bother even giving them that chance when they could die so easily by his hands?

"Let's end this quickly." He said as tanto was unsheathed and the blade made a noise to instill a bit of fear into the hearts of the men present. Naruto rushed the five Oto chunnin and he could already tell that they knew about the gravity of their situation, death was here.

* * *

A few miles outside of Konohagakure no Sato

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked a certain raven haired shinobi who was currently sitting against a tree. His red eyes were focused on the man who stood a little away from him. "This truly doesn't concern you."

"True, but you also know I don't like to pass up a good fight." The man said as he grinned. His grin was one that showcased his sharp teeth, the bloodlust in that grin was clear as daylight. The man's eyes then went to the sky as a poof noise was heard and he could see a crow flying towards them. "Looks like its time."

The crow diligently flew down and then settled near the ground where Itachi Uchiha was currently resting. The crow kept twisting bobbing its head as it beckoned for its summoner to take the parchment of paper from its beak. The former ANBU captain took the piece of paper and read the note.

'It's time'

Itachi stood up and started walking. The man behind him started to walk on the same path as him.

"I'm telling you once more. This really doesn't concern you. It's a personal matter I wish to settle." Itachi said. While he did trust this man to cover his back during a battle, not that he needed someone's help, he did not trust him completely in this matter.

This was something he needed to do. A life of deception, lies and murders had been bestowed upon him and he gladly shouldered the burden if it meant keeping his younger brother and Naruto safe. However, even he knew that with the Invasion things would run amok and the last two, 'loyal' Uchiha of the Leaf would be in danger from both Orochimaru and Danzo. He'd be damned before he let anything happen to those two or let the Leaf suffer like that. However, his organization would surely catch wind of his sudden choice to not gather funds right now and take a 'vacation' all of a sudden.

Then again Akatsuki was a bit lenient these days, and maybe Madara wouldn't catch wind of it. Naruto's information on Zetsu did help and he had out of great secrecy placed a genjutsu on the white half of Zetsu. It was just a precaution. After Naruto had told him of the Curse that stains the Uchiha, Itachi was a bit skeptical in believing a story like that despite having read the Stone Tablet himself and witnessing 'Leader-sama's Rinnegan.

He was pretty sure that his father had read it and dismissed most of the information, except for the part where the Mangekyou can control the Bijuu. That part was real and both of Madara's attempts to make the Kyuubi destroy Konoha were proof of that.

Could he trust his Akatsuki associate right now? If Itachi was to be honest, the man walking with him at the moment was the closest thing to an almost friendly acquaintance he had right now, and that alone speaks volume of the amount of trust Itachi was willing to place on him, however suspicion was something he also had regarding that man.

"You insult me, Itachi-san." The man replied toothily as his eyes were focused on Itachi's Sharingan. "Besides, I want to see what opponents you're going against. Can't let you have all the fun."

"Hn." Itachi grunted and closed his eyes for a second. Such strange acquaintances he had. Still, it was better than nothing and he was sure that the Hokage must've also taken some countermeasures to the situation. He maybe old and kind, but that did not take away any of the shrewdness that man had developed for he was taught by the Nidaime Hokage himself and that man had contingency plans for his contingency plans.

"You're grunting again." The man said with a slightly amused expression.

* * *

Chunnin Exams Arena

"Teme is late." Kasumi said as she stood with the other eight genin side by side. On her left was Shikamaru and on her right was Temari. To her she seemed like she was temporarily acting as a wall between the two. She didn't mind, but boy did she hope that Shikamaru would kick her ass all the way back to Suna. But then again he was way too lazy for his own good, far lazier than Kakashi and that pretty much stated everything that needed to be said.

"I hope he gets here soon, otherwise someone else is going to have to fight the psycho desert guy." Shikamaru said with a lazy tone.

He noticed the look Gaara was giving him and in all honesty it did unnerve him. But compared to the death threat his mother had given him this morning, it didn't count for shit and if he was right she was here in the stadium. What his old man thinking of even letting her come here? Then again she was a chunnin and sparred with his dad every now and then. Maybe that troublesome woman could take care of things on this end, and if she couldn't well he would protect her. Troublesome woman and she had definitely whipped the Jounin Commander of Hidden Leaf, but she was his mother and despite her strict side with a metallic pan he loved her just as much as she did.

"Hey, do you have a deathwish?" asked Kankuro as he looked at the lazy genin with a cold bead of sweat traveling down the side of his face. He was not sure why the Leaf bastard was doing this but he didn't want to be around when his younger brother went ape shit all over the place. His mistake, went raccoon shit all over the place.

"Quiet all of you." said a man wearing the standard jounin attire of Konoha. He had shaggy brown hair that came back to his shoulders as his bandana style hitai-ate covered his forehead. His most unique feature would be the senbon he was currently chewing on.

This was Genma Shiranui, tokubetsu jounin of Konoha and a member of the Hokage Guard Platoon and one of few selected shinobi of the Fourth Hokage who had a basic knowledge on a variant of the **Hiraishin**. He looked around at them with a small smirk. "Ah, new idiots in the Chunnin Exam."

"Hey, watch what you're saying dattebane!" the Orange Menace yelled out as she had an annoyed expression on her face.

"Sure, I will. Looks like there are still two genin still not here. Well, they're lucky their matches aren't scheduled now. Now take a good look at this format." The senbon chewing shinobi said as he held out a parchment of paper, not too big nor too small to read.

FIRST ROUND

Kasumi Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga – Match 1

Shikamaru Nara vs Sabaku no Temari – Match 2

Shino Aburame vs Sabaku no Kankuro – Match 3

Naruto Uchiha vs Dosu Kinuta – Match 4

Sasuke Uchiha vs Sabaku no Gaara – Match 5

SECOND ROUND

Winner of Match 1 vs Winner of Match 2 = Match 6

Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 4 = Match 7

Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 5 = Match 8

FINAL ROUND:

Winner of Match 6 vs Winner of Match 8 = Final Match

"Alright any problems with this?" Genma asked and saw that disapproving look on the blonde's face. He sighed and wanted to make a crack at that, but he doesn't want his hair to become bleached white again. Shiro Shiranui they called him. How did she set up that trap at the Sake House entrance anyway?

'Naru's going to have to fight one extra match.' Kasumi thought. Not that she was worried. Her boyfriend could probably breeze through to the finals to face either her, Sasuke or that crazy sand guy. But still this was unfair! She wanted to fight at him at his fullest, then again Hebi-teme would probably begin the Invasion by then. She sighed but Shikamaru's words had caught her attention.

"Does one have to win the tournament to become a chunnin?" Shikamaru asked. It was just a hypothesis but he needed to confirm it nonetheless. For the first time he willingly asked his mother about something regarding his shinobi career seriously and she had shot him down saying he needed to find out the answers for himself. Damn parents and their habits for making their children independent from a young age.

"No, you don't have to win the tournament to become a chunnin. Being chunnin means taking up the role of a higher ranked shinobi who is often seen as a leader, quick thinking, strategizing and deduction skills are also needed. Simply relying on brute strength won't get you that rank. Conversely, it could also happen that no one in the tournament is selected as chunnin." The man finished and he saw some annoyed expressions among their faces while the one who asked him this question was smirking in satisfaction. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah." Kasumi said as she shot her hand up. The tokubetsu jounin nodded at her to continue. "Where is Hayate-nii?"

"He's there in the stands cause he's coughing increased." Genma said and Kasumi snapped her head to the direction the tokubetsu jounin's vision was gazing at. The orange wearing genin girl then proceeded to wave at the direction and Genma had to shake his head at her behavior. Hayate Gekko did help with her kenjutsu training along with Neko-nee-chan as Kasumi had called her. One day she would find her true identity and that shade of purple hair was too damn rare to find. The proctor of this stage of the exams smirked at her actions.

Honestly speaking it was kind of infectious and made him feel there was no slithery snake lurking around in Konoha, more specifically in the Kage box where the Hokage was sitting with the 'Kazekage' beside him. Genma had a deep hatred for the Snake Sannin. His teammate, a girl he had been friends with ever since he was a genin was a victim of hers. However, even he knew he couldn't kill him that honor belonged to Anko or one of his other victims.

"Enough, Blondilocks." The proctor said. Yup, there was that annoyed expression again, but something in the back of his mind told him that things would play out well for him despite the Orange Menace's track record. "Everyone except Neji Hyuga and Kasumi Uzumaki leave the field and proceed to the stands. The tournament will officially begin now.

* * *

Stands

The stoic Hiashi Hyuga sat with his younger daughter in the stands. His older daughter, the weak one as many had called her, was currently sitting with some of her classmates who did not manage to get to this stage. The Head of the Hyuga Clan was worried about his daughters. Yes, _daughters_. He loved Hinata, but he could not outwardly show it as much as he wanted to. His daughter was a reflection of his late wife. She had also inherited her mother's kinder side of not bodily harming others and trying to help others as much as she could. However, he was a stern man as well. And for the life of him he could not understand why his daughter was so shy all the time. She had absolutely no confidence and even now held back her true potential. Had Hinata Hyuga shown her true prowess with the **Gentle Fist** , the Clan Head doubted whether the Clan would be able to look her in the eye without bowing their head.

Her fight against his nephew, Neji a prodigy amongst the Leaf genin, had proven that she was strong. In all honesty he had expected his firstborn to end up in the hospital with severe wounds due to having her tenketsu points damaged by older genin. However, she had come out of the encounter with minimalistic wounds and had even pushed Neji to the extent even he admitted that she is far stronger than before. Now his younger daughter, or as Hinata had often liked to call her as 'firecracker' for all the right reasons no less, was much more different than his eldest.

She was a true Hyuga: composed, stoic, proud and confident. Nearly the complete opposite of his eldest, still that did not mean that even Hanabi did not have a weaker side i.e. kinder side to her personality. However, over the years due to the distancing relationship between the sisters might go as far as estrangement. If this kept up, then at one point the Clan Elders might propose for Hinata to be marked with the **Sealed Bird Cage**.

"Neji-nii has gotten stronger than before." Said the young brown haired girl beside him. Compared to Hinata, Hanabi had a slimmer build. She had tanned skin, pale eyes that signified of her heritage and brown hair that came down to her waist. She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt that clung to her frame and black pants that also did the same action. She was wearing standard issue shinobi sandals and her eyes were fixed on the match entirely. "Who is that Otou-sama?"

"That is Kasumi Uzumaki." Hiashi said and just for a moment Hanabi felt something different in the tone her father used. It was almost, emotional. The Clan Head on the other hand however, lulled the emotion away as soon as it came. Guilt had been present on his face, guilt of not willingly going forward to help the child of one of his oldest friends. He could blame no one for his but himself, at the very least he could try but just like the others he too avoided that path. Shrugging that thought away, he spoke again, "Compared to a genius like Neji she is nothing. However, according to what I heard she is highly unorthodox in her battle approach and often chains attacks that are random in nature."

"So she is an anomaly at best." The younger daughter of Hiashi replied with a quick reply. She then looked at the two competitors as they were conversing. She then remembered something about a person named Kasumi Uzumaki. She remembered who she heard it from. "….Onee-sama sometimes talked about her. Saying that she was one of her few friends. Why is that Otou-sama? Even now, I see people sometimes glaring at Uzumaki-san."

"That," the Clan Head spoke in a stern yet kind tone "is something you will learn about one day Hanabi. For now I want you to witness how Neji battles. It has been a long time since a true master of the Gentle Fist has seen, and Neji is without a doubt one of them."

Hanabi said nothing further as her eyes now became glued to the fight that would surely break out any second now. In the other parts of the stands, many others shared their opinions of the two genin that would duke it out.

"So that's the Hyuga kid everyone has been ranting on about." said a chunnin who was considered one half of the Eternal Chunnin. The reason they were called this was because it had been a long time since they were made chunnin and had always willingly taken up gate duty along with the other half of the Eternal Chunnin. The person who said this particular statement was Kotetsu Hagane. He has long, spiky, black hair and dark eyes. He has a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and a light-coloured marking on his chin. He wears the standard attire of a Konoha shinobi complete with a forehead protector and a flak jacket.

"Yeah. On pen and paper, he should have this match in the bag. But this is the Orange Menace we're dealing with here. Apparently she's grown her skills a lot since becoming a kunoichi, even sent the Inuzuka heir to the hospital with her katana." This was said by the other half of the Eternal Chunnin. Izumo Kamizuki and among the two he was the more responsible one. Izumo has brown hair, and dark eyes. His hair is combed down and always covers his right eye. He wears his forehead protector like a bandanna along with the standard Konoha shinobi outfit which goes all the way up to his chin, in a similar manner to Yamato's and a flak jacket.

"Geez, calm down." Kotetsu said a bit non chalantly to his gate guarding friend. Both were also given orders to keep an eye out and protect the civilians in the stadium. "Besides, I think the Hyuga kid is going to win this one. Sure, Uzumaki may have improved but the Hyuga has been a shinobi longer than her and then there's the fact that he has a Byakugan he isn't afraid to use."

"You shouldn't count her out yet." Izumo replied at his friend's answer. "Besides, I got some money placed on her."

"Well, how about a bet between us?" The nose bandaged chunnin said.

"You're on." The one wearing the bandanna replied.

A few spots away from them sat the other members of the Konoha 13 as they had been calling themselves, leave it to Ino Yamanaka to come up with a name like that. As of this moment, the ones who were sitting in this group were Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Choji Akimichi and Hinata Hyuga. Rock Lee was there as well, however he had a cast around his right leg and had a crutch with him. Gaara had dealt quite the vicious injury on his leg and his career as a shinobi was at risk as well.

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto aren't here yet." The pink haired genin of Team Seven said.

In all honesty, she was a bit nervous and had been keeping quiet for some time but upon seeing her friends and other jounin sensei arrive that had decreased. Strength in numbers she had thought. There would be an invasion and the young Haruno had brought scrolls with her, scrolls with lots of weapons in case her friends needed them as well. Idly her mind was considering the structure of the buildings and how to utilize them, she wasn't a bookworm for nothing.

"Would you calm down forehead?" said the Yamanaka heiress. Some of their friendship had been brought back ever since their fight one month. Seems that pent up aggression released through a fight did help, and her father always said the opposite thing about the human psyche. "I'm pretty sure that both of them will be here in time. Besides, it's Kasumi's match now."

"You're right. Naruto will probably be here in time. As for Sasuke-kun….I hope Kakashi-sensei, isn't too late in bringing him here." Sakura said with a deadpan expression.

"Ano," Hinata said with a meek tone "i-is K-Kakashi-sensei that bad? I t-thought Kurenai-sensei w-was exaggerating."

"He is that bad." This time it was Tenten who said it. "Guy-sensei keeps telling us that his 'Eternal Rival' is way too tardy." The weapons expert kunoichi said.

"That's not entire false. He'd probably be late for his own funeral if he could." Sakura said.

* * *

The Arena

Neji Hyuga stared at his opponent. He had first labeled her as nothing more than a failure. He had heard that she had initially failed the exam and how she was later made a genin due to some circumstances. However, upon seeing her last match with the Inuzuka heir he was inclined to believe differently. She had large amounts of chakra, it was proof from both the other Uchiha's words and the fact at how she used **Shadow Clones** in combat. Two, she was good with a sword. Three, she could use elemental ninjutsu. Four, she was highly annoying. That did not sit well with the Hyuga branch member.

"You should give up now." The Hyuga spoke with the stoic demeanor fitting of his clansmen. "Fate has decreed that you will lose today. Give up now and you won't have to-"

"Good Kami! I thought you were a stuck up bastard. Not a fate obsessed, stuck-up bastard." Kasumi said with wriggled eyebrows. "That's it. I was just going to kick your ass six ways to Sunday for beating Hinata up that way, but now I'll do it on general principle."

Genma was smirking at her words. Now if she only had a filthier taste of words, an obsession for dango and purple hair then he could've said that she was Anko's younger sister. Now that he thought about it, the mere thought of the two hanging out would be scary. The Orange Menace and the Snake Mistress. He shivered a bit.

"How crass." Neji said with a tone of distaste. Being a Hyuga required you to have proper decorum and the Hyuga revered decorum how some people praised the Log. "Very well then. I'll merely have to beat you to prove how wrong you are. No one can win against fate."

"I don't need someone like you to talk to me about fate. At the end of this I'm going to prove to you how fate doesn't determine everything dattebane." Kasumi said with determination as her usually cheerful demeanor was replaced with a mask of seriousness. Naruto had repeatedly told her not to underestimate the Byakugan wielder and to keep a distance from him, Jiraiya added that his vision nearly extended out to three hundred and sixty degrees. Blindspots were something he didn't have.

Still, she was Kasumi Uzumaki. She had a mountain size beast in her gut, fought a **Hyoton** using hunter nin, managed to get a few blows on Orochimaru and had survived Naruto's training. What was this guy compared to that?

"Alright then." Genma said as he raised his hands. The two genin were getting ready in their respective stances as the proctor brought his hand down. "Hajime."

Two kunai had been launched. Both genin had initially aimed for each others' shoulders and there was a loud clang in the middle of the ground they fought. The two kunai had clashed and cancelled out each other. Kasumi wisely jumped back and was trying to stay away from Neji. The Hyuga however had no choice but to rush in and close the distance between them. The Uzumaki did not expect the Hyuga to be that fast, his hand was now near Kasumi's wrist and he wasmost probably planning to pull her close and strike.

Kasumi however acted like a slithery snake and twisted her arm out of his grasp as her foot tried to hit his face at an awkward angle. Two puffs of smoke appeared beside her, she had already summoned two of her **Shadow Clones.** As Neji blocked the kick with his hand he did not expect the clones to already come into play as one of them kicked him in the side of his left knee and the other one punched him in the jaw as he skidded back. Kasumi did not waste time.

She unsealed the Ginken from her wrist and laced it with **Fuuton** nature chakra. She couldn't do it from a great distance, but good ol Neji was in perfect range. She slashed the sword seemingly at nothing but Neji was smart enough to duck at the last moment due to the noise he could hear. Some strands of his hair got cut off as he activated his Byakugan. His all seeing vision was now in play and instinctively he rolled away as the sword strike hit nothing. He took the stance of the Gentle Fist and was now waiting for her to strike. He could counter her attacks now.

'He's already using the Byakugan.' Kasumi thought. Close range fighting should be avoided now and she really did not feel like using her chains. But first she needed to see exactly what he could do. Reaching for her pouch she brought forth a couple of shuriken and threw them at Neji. All of them aimed for the Hyuga. Instead of showing his hand Neji used a kunai to deflect all the shuriken hurled at him. Neji once more tried to close the gap between himself and his opponent as he once more engaged Kasumi in taijutsu.

For some time the two were tied. In terms of pure strength Kasumi was ahead, but Neji had a flawless flow in his style and was canceling out her attempts with his own blows as he rapidly increased the succession of his strikes. Kasumi barely made three **Shadow Clones** due to the fact the Hyuga was not giving her leeway of any sorts. Despite that, the all seeing vision of the Byakugan was allowing him to see from nearly all the angles the clones would attack from. Neji ducked and spin kicked one of the clones away. He then struck the other two as they also went up in puffs of smoke. Then he saw that Kasumi Uzumaki had unsealed her katana and was coming to strike him.

He would not get hit. Calmly extending both of his arms, the perception of time slowed down around him. Adrenaline pushed throughout his entire body as chakra assembled itself on the open palms. His plan had worked out and could feel that the sword strike was slower than she intended, during their previous scuffle he had managed to block out some of her tenketsu points with his fingers. He smirked as he uttered the name of his jutsu.

" **Hakkeshō Kaiten / Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven** " Neji then began to release chakra from his body, his physical frame also began to rotate. The rotation increased to great speeds in the small time frame as a dome of rapidly spinning chakra surrounded his body. Kasumi's katana clashed head on against the dome of defense and almost immediately she felt the recoil of such an attack as she was flung back. Due to the rotating nature of the jutsu, her sword had been disarmed as it lodged itself into the wall. Not only that but the defensive attack also made her feel a bit wobbly.

However, she could not recover from the attack soon enough as Neji had rushed in and his plan was to make sure that Kasumi does not reach for her sword and block off her tenketsu points. The Hyuga then kicked her away but Kasumi had managed to throw a kunai in the confusion grazing his cheek as some blood leaked out to travel along his jawline and then drip from his chin on to his shirt. Neji idly touched his cheek and saw the blood on his fingers. He had been marked and he took this as a blow to his pride. Not only had the girl forced him to use the **Hakkeshō Kaiten** but also managed to make him bleed. It reminded him of the times when the branch members would sometimes be obsessed by the main house members and his anger was boiling at the memories.

"Is that it?" came the voice of one stubborn Kasumi Uzumaki. She was standing up and was finally taking her boyfriend's advice into account, albeit in a highly risky maneuver. "I thought you were going to prove that 'Fate' had wanted you to win."

"Someone like you could never understand what I mean by those words." The prodigy said as memories of days gone by flushed back into his system. His face showed the whirlpool of emotions: anger, sadness, regret and angst. The more emotions he showed the calmer Kasumi grew. She summoned more clones and sent them after him. Neji cleanly cut through all the clones that had been sent his way. The more clones he destroyed the more frustrated he got.

The moment a shinobi shows his emotions on the battlefield, that is the time to take advantage of it. Of course there were other ways to do that, but Kasumi Uzumaki never was one for twists and turns.

"You're right. Someone like me couldn't understand a person like you. I heard about the **Caged Bird Seal**." Kasumi said with a tone of genuine sadness and her opponent looked at her with wide eyes. Among his myriad of emotions, shock was now present.

In the past month, Jiraiya had revealed that her opponent was from a branch member of the Hyuga Clan. Unlike the Uchiha Clan who treated their branch members more humanely and made it a policy to make sure they wouldn't be clan heads, the Hyuga Clan went further and developed the **Caged Bird Seal** for a twofold purpose. Firstly the seal would activate after the bearer of the seal would die and the Byakugan would be sealed forever. However, the other purpose was to keep the branch members in line and she remembered how Naruto scoffed at the purpose of the seal. Some main house members even abused the power to control the jutsu and often times activated the seal to induce skull splitting headaches within the branch members.

True she was planning to distract Neji, but remembering that fact made her feel guilty, more so because she was doing it despite knowing that he would be distracted.

"I see." Neji said as one of his hands took the stance of the Gentle Fist once more.

His head was not in the cool and rational part he had always kept it in. Why did this girl care? He could tell she was not lying but why? Why did she care? It didn't matter. Fate had written all its stories and the ink was dry. He would end this now, he was getting distracted.

"This match is going to be over now, quit while you can. No one will hold it against you. You were the dead last, the mere fact that you've gotten this far is impressive. However, that is all you're destined for." He said no further words as he would let his finishing technique do the talking.

For her part Kasumi tried to get away but Neji's previous attacks were he had been tactically using his strikes to slowly close some of her tenketsu points were finally beginning to act up and not releasing her **Restriction Seals** was starting to sound like a bad idea at this point. The weight in her arms and shoulders was increasing and Neji had finally appeared in front of her.

"You're within the range of my divination." Neji Hyuga said as he prepared to thrust his open palm against the diaphragm of Kasumi Uzumaki. The target was within sight and the strike would follow. " **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō / Eight Trigrams"** He said and struck her at last.

 **"Two Palms!"** Two strikes came.

 **"Four Palms!"** Followed by another two.

" **Eight Palms!"** Four consecutive strikes. Each time between the strikes was decreasing while the pace of the strikes increased.

" **Sixteen Palms!"** Eight more strikes of the palms hit Kasumi Uzumaki as the tally raised to sixteen.

" **Thirty Two Palms!"** Neji struck sixteen more times as he was away from finishing his jutsu.

" **Sixty Four Palms!"** He said as he delivered thirty two strikes to Kasumi Uzumaki's frame as sixty four tenketsu points in the Chakra Pathway System were now essentially blocked. His own chakra was injected through the strikes and was restricting not only the flow of chakra, but also caused muscle damage as well. Mobility essentially became next to nothing when the **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō** was delivered perfectly and the young man was sure that he had not made a mistake.

He had won.

Fate, once more….showed why she was the Cruel Mistress of the Apocalypse. He was right and she was wrong.

* * *

Stands

"Kasumi-chan." Hinata said with a tone of great concern and nervousness. She knew exactly what that attack was but did not know that her cousin had known such an attack. This along with **Hakkeshō Kaiten** were considered main house descended techniques, she never heard of branch members learning the technique.

This was a devastating attack and the Clan Heiress was getting extremely worried about Kasumi. The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune was one of the first few friends she had and she could say that the orange clad kunoichi had been a large attitude booster for her. Before Hinata met and started to get acquainted with her, she realized how wrong people were in judging her and for some reason hating her too quickly. Kasumi was a person who never gave up and had openly told her that one day she would make the entire village acknowledge her and her infectious spirit had in turn made her confidence increase in spades.

On the other hand, she was also proud. The conflicted Clan Heiress was proud of the fact that her cousin had learned such a technique at a young age, and flawless might she add. Her father was right, Neji truly was a prodigy and would no doubt be one of the greatest Hyuga shinobi in recorded history.

Her father was also having a similar train of thought. He knew the young man's progress rate was absurd but this was unheard of. Judging from the way he delivered both attacks this proved that he was right in praising Neji all those times. Hanabi had no words to say at what she had witnessed. Her grandfather Goro Hyuga was also in the stadium and observed the young genin's actions with his own eyes. To think such a talented member of the Hyuga Bloodline had been born into the branch side of the family.

* * *

The Arena

"It's over proctor." Neji said to the curiously looking Genma Shiranui. "I've blocked off all her tenketsu points. Call the match." He said and was walking away. This was not a matter of over-confidence or vanity. No, he knew the match was over. True, she did have a lot of chakra and the way she even distributed it amongst her clones was also impressive. However, the only way to get rid of her current predicament would be to overflow her blocked tenketsu points with a different source of chakra. There was no poing in him staying here anymore.

"Just where do you think you're going?" came the defying voice of the girl known as Kasumi Uzumaki once more. "I've got a few things to ask you and then I'm going to proceed to kick your ass."

"Hmph." Neji scoffed at her words. "The fact that you are still standing is proof that I held back a bit. Had I unleashed the full power of the **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō** you would've been dead. You deliver empty words Kasumi Uzumaki, fate is something you can never fight against."

"Like I said before, I'll prove you wrong but before that I want to ask you something." She said and once more Neji could not believe the gall at her words. Did she not realize the situation she was in? Or was she doing this to perform false bravado? However, he was anything but worried. Annoyed and frustrated, yes but not worried. He had successfully performed his strongest attack, there was nothing to worry about. So he might indulge her in whatever she was going to ask.

"Why do you hate Hinata?" she asked in what could be registered as a whisper. However, a lot of people who were lacing their ears with chakra heard that sentence. "Why did you try to injure her badly in the last match? If Hayate-nii didn't interfere at the last second you probably would've hit her with your last attack injuring her badly."

Silence.

For a few moments Kasumi expected to hear a lot of things about fate followed by an introductory course on bullshit. However she did not expect him to slowly reach for the back of his head as the hitai-ate on his forehead became slack and the headband fell off. On the forehead of Neji Hyuga was a x mark like tattoo that was a bit tilted and there was a wave like marking on each side of the tilted cross. The Orange Menace was now staring at him with wide eyes and realized this was the infamous **Caged Bird Seal**.

"It is true. I tried to injure Hinata-sama during our fight. I told her to give up already since she is weaker than me. No chose to go against her rationality and face me. To me something like that is insane and she went against the flow hoping she would get a different result….Pathetic." He said with a tone filled with anger and disappointment.

Kasumi for her part stared at the words he said. Even Kasumi knew that she wasn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch, because she was not stupid. Neji wanted to injure for a reason like that?

Kasumi Uzumaki once more called the bullshit in that sentence and spoke.

"Heh!" she smirked a bit as she chuckled at her answer. "As if I would believe something as shitty as that."

Her violet eyes then looked at the pale eyed Hyuga. The prodigy for his part could not move his eyes away from his gaze. There was an air of command around her now and he could not figure out why.

"What's the real reason you wanted to hit her like that? It doesn't feel like normal hatred either. You resent her and for some reason you brought out your anger on her. Why?" She finished and Neji looked at her with a stare with frowned eyes. She might be overstepping personal boundaries, but damn her soul if she couldn't fix a quarrel between two cousins. It was just who she was.

"My fate was decided when I was four years old. Hinata-sama was three at the time, and after seeing that my power surpassed hers the Clan Elders branded me with our cursed marking. Was it my fault that I was stronger than her? No, it was not but fate had deemed me to be the scapegoat and then of course came the incident when I was nine." He said and paused for a moment. He was letting the tension in the air thicken. "My father….Hizashi Hyuga was also branded with the seal, despite the fact that he was the Clan Head's younger twin brother."

Kasumi merely stood there shocked at the words he had just said. Neji's father…..was the twin brother of Hinata's dad. Was he branded with the **Caged Bird Seal** because he was born a few seconds later? That was inhumane. What was wrong with the Hyuga Clan?

"But that's not what made me resent Hinata-sama and the Main House. When I was nine, some shinobi from Kumogakure tried to kidnap Hyuga members from the Compound under the guise of being ambassadors solely to gain the Byakugan. They had kidnapped Hinata-sama and failed due to Hiashi-sama's timely interference. However, Kumo was enraged at the death of their comrade and demanded blood for blood more specifically the person who killed the 'ambassador' or we would be taking the risk of war against the Hidden Cloud. However, instead of Hiashi-sama it was my father who was sent to be a sacrifice to them. Both my father and him are identical twins as such they wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. After he was killed, the **Caged Bird Seal** activated and his dojutsu was sealed forever." Neji finished and he was letting the words sink in before he continued once more. "You see what I meant. You can never fight against fate. It had chosen my father to be a scapegoat from the moment he was born. And that is also the reason why you will lose, you're not strong enough to take me on."

The branch member of the Hyuga Clan finished and he was planning to walk away once more. However to his utter shock he saw that Kasumi was moving her arms and was planning to make the ram hand seal. Was she crazy or was she deaf?

"Stop doing that. I sealed off all your tenketsu points, you can't mold chakra unless someone else undoes the blocked pressure points." Neji said as he looked at the proctor. "The match is over."

"This match is far from over!" Kasumi yelled out as she finally managed to make the ram seal and the Hyuga stared at her incredulously. Why was she still defying the fact she had lost? What could she gain from it?

"I'm going to show you just how wrong you are about fate. I get that you're angry about your father being used like that but, that doesn't give you any right to tell me what I think. And if I have to beat into your head that fate can be defied then so be it."

She then began to focus and tuned out whatever else Neji was saying. She did feel sorry for him but she was not going to play by his rules. If fate truly had decided her fate then the last five months of her life wouldn't be the greatest, she would still be living alone and would've been a ridiculously dense kunoichi who knew nothing but the basic three, and maybe the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**. However, she had fought against her own destiny in a tug of war and was proud. She would show him how wrong he was. Focusing calmly in her head, her inner voice echoed with the chambers of her mind.

'Foxy.' Kasumi said and she could hear a growl from inside her mindscape. 'I need some chakra now. Now give me your fucking rent.'

' **Fine you brat.'** Said the Nine Tailed Fox from behind the seal as he began to unleash some of his potent chakra. ' **Entertain me for a while**.'

Kasumi opened her eyes and then she felt it. Power slowly gathering at her stomach and then it spread like wildfire across her chakra pathway system. The wind around her picked up as everyone stared in shock as a layer of reddish orange hue of visible chakra surrounded her body and was acting like a beacon. The volume of chakra being released was scaring Neji due to the potency of it. With his Byakugan he could see how all the blocked tenketsu blows were being undone.

This was unreal to him! The chakra itself was so dense and large that he could not possibly consider it chakra as well. Even standard jounin didn't have this much chakra. He raised his arms in front of his face to make sure no dust enters his eyes and saw that whatever superficial wounds she had suffered at his hands had also disappeared.

'She has a healing factor as well.' He thought as he watched her make the cross hand seals once more. She smirked as she uttered the name of her jutsu.

" **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** She said and immediately thirty clones had been summoned and they all rushed at him.

Neji was gracefully dodging and countering all their moves but the real pain was that they were not going out with the normal one blow routine. Instead their longevity had been reinforced and took three blows before they puffed away. All of the clones then rushed together as some blows registered on Neji's face and arms but then he quickly took the stance of the Gentle Fist before extending both of his arms out with open palms.

 **"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"** He yelled once more and a rapid rotation of his body began. Chakra flared out of his system as the blue dome of spinning defense once more surrounded him. This time all the clones were dispelled and the cloud of smoke covering the both of them disappeared and he saw Kasumi standing a bit away from him with one hand on her chin and the other had four kunai on them.

"So those two are your most powerful techniques." Kasumi said as she tightened her grip on the kunai. " **Kaiten** serves as both offense and defense. And that other annoying move you have is for blocking down multiple chakra points or whatever you call them. Other than that the only moves you have are close ranged taijutsu. Looks like I was right."

'So that's what she was planning.' Genma thought as he heard the words from her mouth. 'Well well, looks like the Orange Menace isn't entirely a knucklehead as we thought. Still getting hit by those blows was pretty stupid.'

"You planned this." Neji said with some anger. At the same time he was a bit impressed but he would still win. Kasumi then rushed forward as she jumped up and threw the four kunai at him. Throwing it like that was a risk, and two of them would sail past him. However there were two that were currently aiming for him. He saw her making hand seals.

" **Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** She said as the two kunai became something around twelve. Neji didn't need the **Kaiten** for this. He took some of his own shuriken and knew what trajectory it would take if he could hit them properly. He did. All the shuriken flung from his end had hit the kunai and all of them missed Neji entirely. His eyes then saw that Kasumi was still in the air and was rushing at him.

'Attacking me from the front is point-' he couldn't finish his thought as felt a kick against his spine. He had been kicked in his only rare blindspot. True the degree was very small but he had been hit. He then felt another kick delivered to his back as his vision saw two Kasumis standing behind him. 'She disguised the clones as kunai.'

Then more clones appeared near the two as they puffed into existence kicking him further in the air. The real Kasumi was nearby and she was spinning in mid air. Then her foot extended out and delivered an axe kick to his midsection making him plummet to the ground. A crack of webs appeared on the ground where Neji was and using the **Kaiten** two times already followed by the **Hakke Rokujūyon Shō** was already taking a toll on him. Now a barrage of blows had increased his pain but he could still fight. He would not give up. Once more getting up he took the stance and saw all the clones along with the original rushing at him.

 **"Hakkeshō Kaiten!"** He yelled out and the puffs of smoke surrounded him once more. He could only do this jutsu one more time. That was his limit for now, he had put a good amount of chakra in the **Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms** betting that attack would be enough to work. He did not expect his opponent to be something like a chakra battery. And the worst part was she was starting to do hand seals right about now. 'Kuso! She still has enough chakra for elemental jutsu!'

" **Fuuton: Daittopa / Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"** Kasumi said as she brought her hand near her mouth as she had breathed in previously. Then she exhaled out blasts winds from her mouth as it rushed at Neji. Neji being smart enough dodged the hell out of there as fatigue was taking more toll on his body and then once more Kasumi had rushed him with a kunai and he was able to counter it with his own kunai. Then Kasumi kicked him away with brute force as his arms were already reeling from the previous attacks. He saw her going through more hand seals as she once more inhaled a large amount of breath.

' **Fuuton: Kaze Bakuhatsu / Wind Release: Wind Explosion!'** She thought as she exhaled once more and a swirling ball of chakra made of pure wind formed in front of her before it rushed at Neji. However, Kasumi had already started going through hand seals once more. This would take a bit more chakra than she thought, but it would be worth it.

 **"Doton: Doryuu Taiga / Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"** Kasumi said as she slammed her hands on the ground and the area surrounding her and Neji turned into muddy grounds as Neji realized the situation he was in. She had backed him into a corner and he had no further choice.

" **Hakkeshō Kaiten!"** He yelled with all his might and pumped further chakra into it as the swirling ball of wind collided with it, the mud that was trying to entrap him also became a victim of the jutsu as a moderate explosion occurred in the middle of the arena due to the colliding nature of the **Fuuton** jutsu and the **Kaiten** followed by the mud, which actually helped repressed the explosion. Neji stood there panting as he saw a clone of Kasumi running at the wall where the sword was.

He needed to move. He had to move. He could not lose. It was not in his fate to lose. But he could not move. Out of the ground near his feet, two hands had emerged and gripped on to his heels. He then saw that Kasumi had dug a hole near her. She must've prepared a **Shadow Clone** the moment the explosion happened. Then the clone threw the katana near Kasumi who rushed at the right time to reach the handle of the blade. She was now near Neji Hyuga with a burst of speed as her katana's sharp edge was now against his throat.

"Just give up now." Kasumi said with a tone of sadness. "It's true I don't know what you've been through. But if you cling to hate like that, you're only going to end up hurting yourself in the end. I'm pretty sure that Hinata doesn't look at you like most of the other main house members do. She always told me that she had a cousin whom she couldn't reach out to. I thought that person wasn't in the village, but it's you isn't it?"

Neji did not say anything. He merely remembered how each time he would return to the Compound after a mission or some activity Hinata would kindly smile at him. Now he felt even more confused. Why was this girl's words getting to him? Had he been ignoring Hinata or her generous approach due to his own misguided notions? He did not know. But he did know one thing.

Neji Hyuga had been proven wrong today. He was so sure that he would've won.

"You want to know something funny?" Kasumi said as she didn't loosen the grip on her katana. "I failed at the Academy Exam. The only reason I was rated dead last was because someone had interfered with my official test papers. I was taught the wrong lessons by some people. And I failed to do the **Bunshin no Jutsu**."

"You…failed at **Bunshin?** Who does that?" Neji asked, honestly surprised at her words.

"I did. But, I never gave up. I had someone there for me who helped me." She said as her mind wandered to a certain blue eyed teen in her life. "And I'm pretty sure that you can grow even stronger, you are a prodigy after all."

"Proctor." Neji said as he really did not feel like listening to her anymore. Not out of annoyance, but because her speech felt like something an older person should give him. He felt a little peeved out someone younger than him was giving him a life lesson.

"I forfeit." He said and the proctor looked at him before he raised his hand towards the orange clad teen.

"Shosha, Kasumi Uzumaki." Genma said and at first everyone was quiet before the noises of claps started to emerge. Neji Hyuga walked away, albeit slowly as the crowd slowly began to clap for Kasumi Uzumaki and some even cheered. Kasumi herself felt a bit different at how she had been receiving the adoration. It was so weird dattebane. She waved to them and slowly made her way back to the competitors' box.

* * *

Stands

"Well that's the Orange Menace for you, now pay up." Izumo said to her nose concealing friend as he reluctantly handed him a bundle of ryo. Ah life was good for the bandanna wearing Eternal Chunnin.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Still, that was one hell of a match. Didn't know she could pump out consecutive jutsu like that. Makes it look like she was planning this all along and was toying with the Hyuga kid." Kotetsu said as he saw his teammate nod at his words.

Elsewhere members of the Konoha 13 were awed at Kasumi's performance, with Sakura being the least surprised. Tenten Higurashi was the one who was surprised the most, as she expected Neji to win. Hiashi Hyuga had left the arena leaving Hanabi to go and sit with her sister. He needed to resolve something and the jounin senseis of the rookies were surprised at Kasumi's actions. Not because she knew elemental ninjutsu but rather because of the fact how she controlled the entire match after she was struck with the **64 Palms**. That was no joke and it was clear that she had pretty much planned this along, maybe she was ready to be a chunnin after all.

* * *

Competitors Box

"That was a good match, Uzumaki-san." The Aburame heir said and Kasumi nodded at his words. She then looked around to see if Naruto was here or not. The teme still hadn't arrived, quirks of training with Kakashi-sensei she mused. Then she saw that Shikamaru was actually asleep while leaning against the railings. Her eyebrow twitched along with Temari's. The Suna kunoichi was angry because their match was next and the proctor was calling them.

However, before she could say anything Kasumi stopped her.

"Get to the arena. I'm sending him the old fashioned way." Kasumi said. If there was one thing that Kasumi didn't like it was laziness. Probably due to her hyperactive nature, that and she wanted to see the lazy ass fight against the wind user. She needed to see what else Temari was capable of.

"Fine, but you better send him down...crashing." Temari said as she made her way down and Kasumi was brainstorming on how to get him up.

Screw that.

"Shika your mom's here!" She yelled and the Nara immediately got up only to see Kasumi's fist aiming for his face.

"Wait what?" He said and then his cheek got acquainted with her fist. He went over the railing and fell comically on the floor as he looked up at the Orange Menace with a twitching eyebrow.

* * *

Arena

"Troublesome blondes. Why do all women have to be so damn annoying?"

"Hey!" He heard from the voice of Temari who was quite angry with him, specifically the 'women' part. "Are you looking down on me you sloth?"

"You wouldn't understand. I'd really rather spend my time watching the clouds than fight anyone in particular." The Nara Heir said with a tone of resolved laziness. He even yawned. "The only reason I'm here is because otherwise my troublesome mother would eat my brains out later if I quit now."

"Something tells me she and I are going to get along fine." Temari said with a smirk. Shikamaru groaned at such an aspect. His troublesome mother meeting this troublesome blonde with her troublesome fan to make his life even more troublesome.

"Troublesome." He muttered with extreme dislike. He looked up behind him to see Kasumi Uzumaki giving him the thumbs up. Well she was one of his friends. Well he thought they were friends, he always did have lunch with her and Choji. For some reason his father always told him not to avoid the girl like the others. He didn't know why she was ostracized but she wasn't a bad person in general. Hyperactive, loud and brash….certainly. But someone to avoid like the plague? Hell no.

* * *

Competitors Box

"There now he can begin." Kasumi said and everyone around her minus Gaara sweat dropped at her actions.

The Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi had a small smirk of insanity on his face. His mother had been raging for blood for some time and this girl's previous fight against the Hyuga had piqued his interest. The girl whom he thought was a moderately good genin had turned out to be a surprising dark horse in the tournament. He had been labeled a monster ever since he was a child. Like any other child at first he too was scared and wanted affection, but at one point he accepted what he was…a monster.

He was always out to prove his existence against strong opponents. Maybe one day, some human would dare to defeat this monster. Only a human could hope to do so. Three people in the Hidden Leaf had been on his mind. Kasumi Uzumaki, his next opponent Sasuke Uchiha and finally, Naruto Uchiha. He had caught on to him when he had carefully hidden himself in the tree. His sensory skill was good enough to pinpoint his location and Naruto's particularly brutal performance against Kabuto had made him feel that much more willing to fight against the blue eyed shinobi.

"Where is Naruto-san, Uzumaki-san?" Shino asked and Kisame looked at him with an owlish expression, blinking her eyelids every now and then.

"Why do you call Naru 'Naruto-san' but you call me 'Uzumaki-san'?" Kasumi asked. Did she look old or something? True her figure was more developed than her contemporaries sans Hinata who also had a good figure, just a few curves shy of hers, but did she look old as in 'old' old? She may not be a fan girl, but like every other female human being in every universe out there she did care about her figure and looks, even if only at a base level.

"That's because Naruto-san told me to call him that during the Academy days. He was quite adamant in me not calling him 'Uchiha-san'." The Aburame replied and that was not entirely true. Shino had often used his Kikaichū to spy on others like any good and true shinobi would do. Naruto had caught on to him and subtly told him not to spy on him and for some reason he had also mentioned not to spy on Kasumi back then, though he could now understand why he did.

"I see. Then can you also call me Kasumi, Shino. We are friends after all dattebane!" She said with a ten million watt smile and Shino stood still for some moment. A girl never really wanted to be friends with him, barring Hinata that girl was far too kind for her own good.

"Very well, Kasumi-san." Shino said as he pushed back his shades against his ocular frames. He smiled a bit at the prospect of having another friend. However, no one could see the smile as the high collar of his shirt was concealing the lower part of his face.

Kasumi was then paying attention to the match. The girl was good with the battle fan. In fact, Kasumi could say that the girl was almost as good as her and Naruto. Almost, Kasumi Uzumaki was sure that he could kick her ass any day. And both of her brothers' collective asses. She then felt a hand on her shoulder. She recognized the touch and turned around to see Naruto standing there with a small smile on his face. She hugged him immediately. She wasn't going to cry or anything, yeah there was just dust in her eyes. She then felt him slowly rub the back of her head.

"Sorry for arriving so late." He said and she took in his appearance. It was his brother, Shisui's old clothes. They fit him, they fit him really well. Did he grow taller in a month? Why did he look so much more mature all of a sudden? Maybe it was the vest, if it was she would be getting one. His next words brought him out of his musing.

"The rice was really good. Arigato, Sumi." He said and slowly kissed her forehead. She blushed a bit, not because of the kiss but rather because it was a public spot and Hinata had surprisingly come up to the stands and eeped. "Congratulations on winning your match."

"Hm." She said as she crossed her arms and smirked a bit. "Of course I was going to win, what did you expect? I beat that Neji-teme and now I'm going to win the tournament….By the way why are you here, Hinata-chan?"

"Ano, I-I was wondering if I could undo all the tenketsu points." The clan heiress asked meekly. She still remembered how Kasumi had rushed to the Hyuga Clan Compound and was waiting outside for her friend. She had come to tell Hinata that Naruto felt the same way about her and the Byakugan wielder was happy fo her friend. She also wished that she could find someone like that but where oh where could she find someone like that. Unknown to her, a person currently in the village nearly sneezed at the moment, but didn't due to his self restraint and control.

"Suge! You can do that Hinata-chan?" Kasumi asked with stars in her eyes. Her friend nodded.

"Hai, but it will take a few minutes." She said and activated her Byakugan and the nerves around her eyes became more prominent. She then extended her index finger to jab at Kasumi's frame. She didn't do it in repeated successions as it would have some physical backlash on the orange clad teen.

"Thanks for doing this Hinata." Naruto said and she nodded a bit before going back to poke at Kasumi's body. True to his thoughts, Kasumi did beat Neji in the first round and was pretty sure that elemental ninjutsu must've played a large part in that match. No offense to Might Gai, but taijutsu master like him was also no professional at elemental ninjutsu and Naruto had banked Kasumi's advantage on that. His eyes now focused on Shikamaru's match with Temari.

To Naruto, someone like Shikamaru was terrifying. His mind was able to process and plan around things so smoothly it was unfair. Shisui always did tell him that a thinking Nara is a dangerous Nara and judging from the match in which he was holding his own against a **Fuuton** user like Temari that was enough proof. The fact that he was sitting down and thinking in a stance like that showed the calmness of his mind being reflected by his body. His attention went to the Kage's box for a moment and saw that a puff of smoke had appeared near the Hokage and the 'Kazekage'. Judging from the ridiculous kabuki noises emerging from there, yes they could be heard even from that distance, the Toad Sage was there.

'Good.' Naruto thought. 'Now I don't have to worry about Orochimaru for a while.'

He then saw that Hinata was done with Kasumi's tenketsu unlocking. Generally there would be rules to bind medical treatment in a tournament, but then again that rule was not mentioned or even specified so Kasumi merely took advantage of that fact. Soon enough the Clan Heiress had left and Naruto saw that Shikamaru's match had ended. In the end he had realized that his chakra was running low and he backed out. But Naruto felt like that Shikamaru could've fought a bit longer, it seemed too quick for the Nara to give up. He saw the Nara get back up into the competitors box and was sitting down on the floor while leaning against the wall.

"So, you're here." Shikamaru said as he looked at the arrived Uchiha.

"Hai." Naruto replied as he looked at took out something from his pouch and threw it to the Nara who caught it. Shikamaru opened his hand to see a small pill. These pills were called Military Rations Pills which could replenish one's chakra and nourish the body. It is made up of powerful stimulants and nutrients, said to allow the user to keep fighting for three days and three nights without rest. At the end of the three days effect, the shinobi is brought to the point of complete and utter exhaustion.

"In case you need to avoid some troublesome affairs." Naruto said with a small smirk and Shikamaru's eyes widened in realization.

"Thanks, but still even taking this pill is troublesome." The lazy shinobi said and now saw that Shino would be taking on Kankuro now.

Naruto wanted to see Karasu in action once more but to his disappointment, the puppet user forfeited the match nearly immediately. This was fork in his path, Naruto wanted a bit more time. Hopefully, Sasuke would be arriving a bit late. He didn't expect Kankuro to throw his match away immediately. Naruto then heard his own name being called and saw that Dosu Kinuta was already making his way down to the arena. He felt a tug on his sleeve and saw that Kasumi had pulled it.

"You better get back soon and one piece." She said and Naruto nodded before he made his way down the stairs. The Uzumaki then turned around and looked at them all. She knew that Suna was trying to employ an Invasion but Jiraiya had told her to keep up the mask of indifference to the situation. "So who wants to make a bet?"

* * *

Arena

Dosu Kinuta was enraged at the moment. He would finally get to fight the Uchiha. Zaku's arms were broken by Sasuke and Dosu had contemplated the thought whether he should attack Gaara or not to face the Sasuke. Even if he was a scum amongst shinobi Dosu was rather close to Zaku, known him since he was a child when the place was still called Ta no Kuni. Then Orochimaru came and formed the Village Hidden in the Sound, while he knew he was not as strong as the Sound Four, the bone freak and that woman he was still strong as some chunnin and considering that Sasuke, the heir of the Clan from the Main House, had to rely on the **Cursed Seal of Heaven** to defeat Zaku and this guy according to intel was a branch member.

However his impression had changed with the last match when he took on Kabuto. Dosu would have to be careful around him. Naruto stood in front of him and looked at him with a blank expression. His blue eyes seemed dull and bored as he looked at the Sound shinobi.

"Hajime." Genma said and Dosu hurled some shuriken at the Uchiha. Naruto evaded them as he rolled away and had engaged Dosu in a taijutsu match. Each strike that Dosu was throwing his way was being dodged or blocked by Naruto. Every single punch, kick or an attempted stab by his kunai was being used to cut thin air. Naruto then grabbed his left hand which held the kunai and spoke.

"You seem to be on edge." Naruto said before he applied force in his grip as Dosu felt the pain on his wrist. Naruto then yanked his arm forward before he kicked Dosu square in the chest making him fall back for a moment as he got up. Naruto was slowly going at Dosu and was wondering how he should take him out. From Dosu's match with Choji, the man depended on the metallic gauntlet on his right hand. It sent off high frequency sound waves that could cause nausea and induce migraines. So manipulating the wind around him was one option and breaking the gauntlet was another. Naruto never was one to prolong matches without a specific cause, but he needed to waste some time. So he took out one shuriken and threw it at him while making hand seals.

" **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** He said and one shuriken turned into twelve as Dosu used his own shurikent to deflect them. Naruto breathed in and then ran towards the Sound shinobi and was now going to attack him of his own accord.

* * *

Hokage Platform

The 'Kazekage' was irritated. He had thought that Jiraiya had come here to speak with Sarutobi and then would leave to do some 'research', everyone knew how much he loved that but much to his ire the Toad Sage instead sat down and was chatting with the Hokage like it was any other day. Of all days for Jiraiya to come and speak with the Hokage it had to be today. This would prove to be a problem as he wanted to face his former sensei before he brought out three of his trump cards.

"So Kazekage-sama." Jiraiya spoke with a cheerful tone. "Who do you think will win the tournament today?"

"Honestly speaking my son Gaara will." The 'Kazekage' said and Jiraiya looked at him with a sheepish tone before scratching his chin.

"Do you want to bet on that?" Jiraiya said and this time Sarutobi spoke up.

"Jiraiya." The Third Hokage said with the tone of a stern father and both men present had to look at him with a sight of nostalgia. As much as Orochimaru would become evil or hate the Leaf, he could not deny his skills had grown in part to Sarutobi's training. This was a tone he hadn't heard in years and reminded him of a time he used to be loyal to the village.

"You shouldn't be disturbing the Kazekage like that. My apologies Kazekage-dono. Jiraiya can still be childish despite his age." He said and Jiraiya cringed a bit at his sensei's statement. Forget about the invasion where did that come from? He was a Sannin dammit! On top of that he was the Gallant Jiraiya who made women shiver in awe, made children clap at his presence and men bowing down to him. He wanted to say something but his former friend spoke up.

"It's alright Hokage-dono." The 'Kazekage' said and he thought hopefully he would be able to buy some time to bring out his trump cards. For now he would be paying attention to the match to one of his possibly new host's body. Naruto Uchiha looked a bit taller if he wasn't wrong. Well maybe his growth spurt had this past month, it wasn't unusual the boy wasn't fifteen yet so he would grow taller even still. He also had the Mangekyou Sharingan. The 'Kazekage' licked his lips, the other two could not see it as he had a veil covering the lower half of his face.

* * *

Stands

"Dammit Naru!" Kasumi yelled out of frustration. "Why is making the match longer? I bet it's because Sasuke-teme isn't here yet. When I find that little shit, I am going to take my katana and impale him a new one."

Unconsciously everyone took two steps away from her. Gaara was already a little bit away but even he had to admit that the words she said would put anyone on edge. Kurenai for her part came to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kasumi, who do you have such a crass way of speaking?" Kurenai asked. She wouldn't rush to conclusions but this was weird seeing a teen, a girl no less, publicly speaking like that.

"Sorry about that." She said with a sheepish expression as she scratched the back of her head. "It's just that growing up in the Red Light District sort of made me pick up their way of talking."

"I see. But to try to change it, after all if you want to be Hokage you can't speak like that." This was actually said by Asuma Sarutobi as he came forward to give Kurenai more money. He lost two bets to her already and he made a decision not to make anymore bets with the ruby eyed jounin.

"I beg to differ." Said a female voice without a body and everyone noticed that Anko was here, in her usual garb. Kasumi then looked at her with narrowed eyes as she remembered what she did to _her_ Naru outside the Forest of Death. "Aww! Look at that Tomato-chan here is angry at me!"

"Of course I am. You tried to molest Naru outside the Forest!" She said as she accusingly pointed a finger at her.

"Oh please. You didn't see Chibi-kun trying to get out of my grip. In fact he liked it when I pulled him against my large and bouncy-"

"Anko!" Kurenai yelled as she became a bit red at her words. Kankuro was giggling at her words and a glare from all four women made him stop.

'Why me!' he yelled in his mind.

"Anyways, I was just here to congratulate Tomato-chan here on her match. Didn't think someone could make the Hyuga prick shut up about fate. Honestly they're so stuck up it hurts my brain when they speak. Formality is just another fancy word for bullshit." The Snake Mistress of Konoha spoke and everyone once more sweat dropped at her words. But one person found them….enlightening.

A sniff could be heard from the group and everyone including the mad Tanuki wielder looked at Kasumi who was leaking tears of joy looked at Anko.

"You….you too feel the same way." She said as tears did not stop falling from her eyes. "All those temes with their politics, and meetings and formalities. We're ninja right?! Why the heck do we even need that crap?!" she yelled out and this time Anko was tearing up at her words.

"I see. I have found a true believer." She said as she wiped the faux tears away from her eyelids. She then got near the Orange Menace and sat down on one knee. She put a hand on Kasumi's head. "I swear Tomato-chan, together we shall get rid of all the formal bullshit and make Konoha great again!"

"Hai, Sadist-nee-chan!" She said and hugged the older tokubetsu jounin. The air around them glittered as they continued to cry crocodile tears and wail. Kurenai for her part could only look at them with a deadpan expression while everyone else were finding this bizarre.

* * *

Arena

Naruto felt a shiver go up his spine as he paused in mid fight. He then dodged a blow that Dosu had aimed for him. The Sound shinobi had taken the chance to gain the upper hand and had activated his Resonating Echo Speaker and the sound around Naruto was being manipulated as Naruto could feel his head feeling a bit wobbly. But compared to what he felt a few days ago, it was nothing. Naruto punched Dosu on his cheek and made him flew back.

Naruto then unsealed his katana from his right arm from the Instant Weapon Brace as Setsuna gleamed murderously at the Sound shinobi. Naruto rushed forward and laced it with **Fuuton** chakra and slashed the empty wind to send a cutting wind force at Dosu. The Sound shinobi heard the jutsu coming and was able to dodge the blow not receiving any injury but he felt the loss of his weapon.

The Resonating Echo Speaker was damaged and his weaponized sound method was now useless. Dosu glared at the Uchiha. He had timed that slash perfectly. His weapon was now out of play. Naruto put his katana back in the seal as he looked at the Sound shinobi with a condescending look like a true Uchiha.

"Is that all you have to offer?" Naruto asked. Dosu glared at him and then took off the metallic brace that covered his arm. He then also took off the bandages that covered his lower face and revealed it to be perfectly normal. He then tore off the cloth that covered his right arm and showed it to Naruto. There was a seal and the design of it looked like a green skull, with an open jaw. The inside, however, consists of various ducts and slots, leading to a bottom slot at the "jaw".

He then performed some hand seals and stopped at a unique hand seal as the seal glowed.

"You see this, make sure you remember it. It's the sign of your death." Dosu said and then took out a vial from his pouch and Naruto looked at the crimson colored liquid in it. He proceeded to drink it as his body shook a bit at the consumption of it. However more markings began to appear around his body. Mostly tiger stripes that formed around his exposed arm and his face. His build also gained a significant amount of muscle mass as his teeth grew sharper to resemble fangs. His overall height also increased.

'Another form of the **Cursed Seal**.' Naruto thought inside his mind. Orochimaru was indeed a crafty snake. However, compared to the power he slightly felt when he saw Sasuke this one seemed…weaker. Dosu lunged at Naruto with great speed and for a moment Naruto was impressed. He tried to punch Naruto but only ended up hitting the bare ground leaving a small indent, a sign of his increased strength. 'His physical strength has increased as well. So it's fair to assume his threat perception has increased as well.' Naruto finished his thoughts as he saw the Sound nin once more rushing him…head on.

'But you haven't grown smarter.' Naruto thought as the fist reached for him and Naruto weaved around his arm and kicked him on his chin making him reel back. Naruto's overall physical strength had increased and he was not shy of breaking a few teeth. He then punched Dosu in the stomach, the chest, the throat and then his chin once more as an uppercut sent him back. Naruto wasn't done there as he ran to the genin in motion and proceeded to kick him further away as a small cracking noise in his rib could be heard.

Dosu fell down and once more got up as he felt the pain from the attacks. This was not supposed to happen. Orochimaru had told him that the **Animal Curse Seal** he received from one of the snakes that bit him would grant more strength, but warned him not to overuse it or use its full power as his body could be harmed dangerously. Dosu didn't care anymore, he wanted to fight the Uchiha at full power and began to draw out his power even more. Naruto for his part stood perfectly still and waited for whatever the Sound nin wanted to finish.

As if this tournament mattered to him, he was already a chunnin and by the end of this affair he wouldn't be surprised if he was made a tokubetsu jounin. He had wasted enough time, surely these extra few minutes he wasted on this person was worth it. His pride was being damaged here.

He saw that the kanji seals from the seal had stopped leaking from the source and painting the genin's body. Dosu's musculature increased even more and looked like a hulking body builder. However, his form took that of a bipedal tiger giving him a feral look as all the bandages of his face fell off and his shirt got completely torn, while some parts of his pants remained to conceal his private parts. Naruto was thankful, he did not want to see something akin to a furry freak right now.

Dosu roared as he opened his maw and tried to bite off Naruto's head. The Uchiha performed a **Shunshin / Body Flicker** to swiftly get out of there. Naruto then observed that his speed had decreased, no doubt due to the muscle mass and once more Dosu lunged at him like a wild animal. This transformation must've taken away proper senses and made him a raging animal out for blood.

Naruto made a few hand seals before he stopped at the tiger hand seal and waited for Dosu to lunge at him. As if on cue, the bipedal tiger/man came at him with his maw opened and claws coming down at him.

" **Katon: Myaku Hitofuki no Jutsu / Fire Release: Pulse Blast Technique"** Naruto said as he breath out a basketball sized ball of orange flames with a green center that hit Dosu straight on and dragged the feral being with it. After travelling a little distance away, Then the ball of fire exploded as a small dome of orange flames formed around the body of Dosu and a loud, resonating bang noise could be heard. Then a sharp concussive force was released from the center of the blast as Dosu's body flew out and had a lot of burn marks on it.

He was still moving as he stood up and Naruto had to respect his valiant effort, even if it was foolish. Naruto put his hand on his tanto and rushed at the tiger like man and unsheathed his tanto.

This tanto was special, it had belonged to his father and Shisui often used it and taught Naruto a single move that he could do once his chakra control was good enough along with a high affinity in **Katon**. Naruto rushed as orange flames swirled around the length of short blade and he slashed diagonally at Dosu's frame as flames danced in the wind covering the Sound nin's body and blood spewed out from his chest and stomach.

' **Uchiha Ryū: Higasa no Mai / Uchiha Style: Dance of the Sun Halo'** Naruto though in his mind as Dosu fell over and his feral qualities were receding. He was coughing out blood and the entire crowd was silent. He looked at the proctor and spoke, "Call the match, Proctor-san and get him a medic." He then started to walk away.

'This kid. He didn't even activate his Sharingan during the fight.' Genma thought and realized why the kid had indeed played a part in finding out why the Hokage had promoted him. In fact, this kid might have more tricks up in his sleeve than Anko had dango with her. He raised a hand at Uchiha who walked away, "Shosha! Naruto Uchiha!"

A round of claps and applauses emerged as many of the villagers praised the Uchiha for his battle prowess while some had shuddered at the state he left his opponent in. All in all, very one sided match.

* * *

Competitors Box

"Suge!" Kasumi said as she glomped Naruto who was a bit pink at her public display of affection and he was sure she was doing this to get back at him for the bridal carry thing. "You finished that technique."

"Well yeah." He said in a tone of cheer. He was happy that he got that move down finally, his father would no doubt be proud of him in the afterlife. "The training went along finely."

"That was one hell of a technique, Chibi-kun." Anko said and Kasumi was nodding with her as they stood side by side. Naruto found that weird, and for some reason he felt like this would come to bite him in the ass somehow. He did not like that. He went to Kurenai and spoke to her, "How long was I gone, Kurenai-nee-san?"

"Don't worry I'm sure it's just a thing." Kurenai said as she saw Kasumi and Anko both talking with kunai in their hands. "Though I would suggest sleeping with your eyes open." Naruto groaned at that. He did not like the idea of Kasumi and Anko hanging out. Both were hyperactive loudmouths. And if those two did hang out too much, all of Konoha would fear them.

"Naruto Uchiha." Said a raspy voice and the mentioned person looked at the person who said it. A sick smirk was present on Gaara's face as he looked at the Uchiha. "You're finally here. Now I will see if you can prove my existence."

"That hungry already?" Naruto asked with a small smirk as he looked at the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. In all honesty, he did want to fight Gaara. The Uchiha side in him told him to provoke the boy and fight him head on, but he was not fighting for himself. He was fighting to protect the village and its people. "Calm down. We'll have our match. Besides, you have to fight Sasuke first."

"Don't worry. I'll kill that Uchiha first. He's piqued my interest just as much as you and Uzumaki have." Gaara said and this time Naruto narrowed his eyes at him as Kasumi clenched her fists. The jounin around them were idly preparing to interfere if Gaara did something crazy or worse, let loose his power of the sand due to his tenant. "You'll be dead by my hands but first I'll kill Sasuke, then that taijutsu user who should've died and then I'll kill Uzumaki before I…."

Gaara could not speak as he felt the wind leave his throat. Sweat poured out excessively from his head as his body shivered at the killing intent directed at him. Naruto Uchiha was outright glaring at him with his Sharingan activated. Gaara was surprised because this was the first time that someone had made him feel the promise of death in such a manner. The tomoe lazily spun as everyone around them, even the jounin, felt the pressure of the killing intent. It was dense and overwhelming. Kasumi herself was getting unnerved at it and was tugging at his shirt to make him lessen it.

The tactic worked as the pressure decreased and Naruto Uchiha looked at the Ichibi Jinchuuriki with a cold glare.

"If you want to live, never even think of that even in your wildest dreams." The Uchiha said as Gaara could not look away from him. "Now go the arena and face Sasuke. He's here and if you can't beat him, don't think you have a chance against me." He finished as a swirl of leaves had gathered around them and the duo appeared.

Sasuke had slightly changed his appearance as he wore a black short sleeved shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back. He also wore beige colored shorts that came down to his knees and had bandages around his legs as he wore black shinobi sandals. Kakashi was as usual nose deep in his smut as he looked at the scene.

"We're not late, are we?" Kakashi asked in his usual uncaring tone while Sasuke glared at him lightly.

"We would've gotten here sooner if you weren't so late sensei." Sasuke said and Kasumi looked at him like he grew a second head. "Usaratonkachi, what are you looking at?"

"Teme." She responded gracefully while gritting her teeth. "I was just wondering what Kakashi-sensei taught for you to call him sensei."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sasuke said with a smirk that basically said 'Hah! I got a cool jutsu!', according to Kasumi.

"Now, now behave Sasuke." Kakashi said as he looked at his two students with his iconic eyesmile. "So you two already won."

"Yup, what else did you expect sensei?" Kasumi said while pumping her fist in the air. "We are the best team dattebane!"

"Yeah right." Kankuro muttered.

"Says the makeup guy who forfeited the match." Kasumi replied cheekily.

"It's warpaint dammit!" Kankuro yelled out.

"Shut up Kankuro. You're embrassing yourself." Gaara said with a cold tone he did not like how the Uchiha had downplayed his power. He would show his power soon enough.

"Aye!" Kankuro said as he backed away and Naruto had to sweatdrop at the puppet user's reaction. Who said 'aye' out of fear? It would have to be someone very stupid. Someone so inanely dumb, that he would do things recklessly and was responsible for more trouble than giving solutions. Unknown to him, a certain pink haired teen sneezed while he put a few curtain drapes on fire in a theater. Soon enough Sasuke spoke up and the other members of Team Seven looked at him.

"So you two made it." Sasuke said with a smile. He was genuinely looking to fight against the two. Kasumi because she had improved rapidly ever since joining Team Seven and Naruto because well he had something akin to a rivalry with him. What Sasuke didn't realize was that slowly but surely, he was starting to respect Naruto. Not only as a rival, but as a friend as well. Almost similar to how Shisui and Itachi had, but they weren't there yet.

"That's right teme." Kasumi said with a smile of her own. "You better haul your ass to the next round so I can kick you out."

"You wish." The Clan Heir said and he looked at Naruto who had deactivated his Sharingan. He began to spoke, "Just wait, I'll show you how much I improved."

"Alright then." Naruto said as he closed his eyes and smiled. Two Uchiha clashing, now that was a prospect that Kakashi hadn't taken into consideration. Still their rivalry was healthy and he was glad that Sasuke's behavior wasn't as volatile as before. Sasuke had improved and now both he and Gaara had reached the arena and everyone began to notice how Sasuke's speed had improved to a great extent and his moves were seeming similar to a certain green spandex wearing genin.

"He's moving like Bushy Brows." Kasumi said and nearly everyone except the jounins and Naruto nodded.

"Not quite. The Sharingan can only take you so far, and doing this is placing a large strain on his body. I am assuming that you gave them permission to use that style, Gai-nii-san?" Naruto asked as Might Gai smiled his flashy smile.

"Yes, Kakashi himself came to ask and seeing his youthful way of asking for permission made me do it. Ne, Kakashi?" He said to see Kakashi reading his book.

"Oh, did you say something?" the masked jounin asked and Gai's form crumbled.

His eyes narrowed slightly at Sasuke's direction as the fight was picking up pace at a deadly speed and Gaara had finally resorted himself to protecting himself in a sand orb. Then Sasuke ran up the wall and stood there as he made the hand seals necessary. By now all of the Konoha 13, barring Kiba who was not there for other reasons, had rushed to the Competitors Box as the Sand Siblings moved away to get a better view.

The chirping of birds could be heard as Sasuke's left hand was cackling with blue colored lightning.

"So that's why he's in a good mood." Naruto said and Gai frowned at Kakashi a bit.

"Kakashi, are you sure he's ready to use that?" Gai asked and his tone was that of grave seriousness.

"I'm pretty sure. He's a lot like me when I was his age." Kakashi said and some of the genin looked at him.

"Wait, sensei were you Rookie of the Year as well?" Sakura asked and you couldn't blame her. Other than Naruto his team members did not know much about him due to his secrecy. And Naruto felt that he should educate them a bit.

"Actually Kakashi-sensei's case was different. Back then it was wartime and being Rookie of the Year back then along with a few following years meant a lot. Sensei however is an exception even among that." Naruto said and this time Kasumi knew what he was talking about.

"Sensei, became genin when he was five years old." Naruto said and every genin looked at him and Kakashi flabbergasted. "He became a chunnin at six and a jounin at 13. He also _created_ his own jutsu which was ranked as an A Rank assassination technique by then."

"Heh?!" All of the genin said except Shino who sweated a bit and the Sand Siblings were quite astounded at his words.

"That's the same jutsu that Sasuke is using. A jab with **Raiton** chakra, made specifically to pierce through your opponents." Naruto said.

"Indeed, that's the **Chidori. One Thousand Birds.** " Gai said as Sasuke rushed at a breakneck speed avoiding every spike of sand that was trying to stab him and his lightning covered arm piered through the sand ball of defense as a yell of pain emerged from it. Blood could be seen on Sasuke's hands as feathers fell from the sky. Naruto saw it immediately.

" **KAI!"** came the collected calls of every jounin, tokubetsu jounin, chunnin along with Shino, Sakura, Kasumi, Shikamaru and Hinata. The rest of them were woken up from their sleep induced state by the others as swarms of Suna and Oto shinobi were swamping the area.

"Sensei," Naruto said as he looked at Kakashi who had already raised his hitai-ate "I'll be taking care of the ones outside the stadium. Jiraiya-sama has made a **Bijuu Chakra Repression Seal**. It's with Kasumi, leave the others to me."

"Alright then." Kakashi said and Kasumi looked at Naruto before hugging him once.

"Come back safe alright." Kasumi said to him and she felt him nod.

"Don't worry. Go and help Sasuke to take care of Gaara." Naruto said. "I'll be back." He disappeared in a **Shunshin** as there was no trace of him left and the Kage Platform had been the source of an explosion.

* * *

Underground ROOT Base # 2

100 hundred Ne ANBU were stationed here in this base as they prepared for their orders. Soon they would be taking part in a coup that their leader would be orchestrating. Two hundred and fifty strong would be fighting for Danzo Shimura. The most beautiful thing about the underground bases of the Foundation was that they were linked and only a few people knew where the entrances went to when regarding the exits of the village.

Then something bizarre happened. Crows began to emerge in the underground base as the Black Ops were momentarily stunned at how so many crows had entered this place. Then the crows multiplied and a few of them were too late to realize that this was a genjutsu.

A large ball of fire emerged and caught ten ANBU immediately as they broke the genjutsu. Standing before them in a black cloak with red clouds on it was the S Ranked Criminal Itachi Uchiha. His Sharingan eyes were looking at them with a blank tone. Then a large tidal wave of water was set loose in the tunnel as a man was seen riding the top of the wave. He too was wearing the same black cloak. His build was large and his had spiky dark blue hair and his skin color was light blue. There were gills around his eyes and his sharp teeth were grinning in line to form a murderous smile. On his back was a giant blade wrapped in bandages as it shook every now and then.

"My, my Itachi. You didn't tell me there would be this many in one spot alone." He said as he undid the bandages of his sword as the shark like scales could be seen clearly.

"Finish them quickly Kisame." Itachi said to his partner in crime as he had unfinished business that had been long overdue. 'Danzo Shimura dies today.'

* * *

 **And that is it for today. Bet you guys didn't expect that Itachi would be coming in with Kisame did you? I think I handled the fights pretty well, as for why I skipped some fight scenes that was because they were the same as canon so no need to waste the clicks of my buttons writing it and your time reading it. And no, I did not make a mistake when I said Orochimaru has THREE trump cards. You guys can take a guess what the third trump card is, if you're right I'll tell you in PM. That's pretty much it. Sorry for no fluff today, I couldn't bring myself to write more.**

 **Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter as much as I did writing it. Yes I know, not much progress but as you all know it's been a pretty shitty month for me. So if there are errors I will fix them later. For now read and review to tell me how you felt about it.**

 **Also, do pray for my departed aunt. I would be most grateful to you all.**

 **Take care guys, Ja ne!**


	21. Order and Chaos Part I

**Authors Note I:** I feel like I should clear something out. Once more I received messages about why I hate Sasuke. *sighs* Let me clear the air for those who asked and those who want to know. I do not hate Sasuke. In Part I, I did like Sasuke better than Naruto. What? I'm honest, he felt like a better character but then I found Itachi and I thought "Meh, he's older brother is cooler even if he is a mass murdering criminal." Then came the part about him leaving, I wasn't surprised when he left. It was almost fitting of his character considering the shit he went through, what I did not like was his obsession with Naruto. Be obsessed with Itachi you twat. You're a fucking genius, if you want to know how Naruto got better, then these two words are the only bit of advice I have for you: GiT GuD. I mean no harm in extra training, but no you decide to vent your anger out on the one guy who's looking to prove himself. LOGIC! Let it be known, it was from that point on I began to dislike Naruto Uzumaki as well. Seriously the Chidori to the chest made him gay for Sasuke in weird ways.

After that when Part II began…I'm gonna be honest. Sasuke sort of became boring with his one directional mind, bland expressions and general lack of charisma. I mean I don't expect him to jump jacks and vomit rainbows but there was no anima in his character, a hollow shell with no soul just monotonous boredom. He just felt like someone who was there because he was forced to be one of the main MC's. I don't even hate the fact that he was revenge obsessed, go ahead kill Itachi and avenge your clan. Killed Itachi? Good. Now he finds out that his brother did that because of a coup d'état attempt by his clan and the elders ordered it. Now comes the fun part, why don't you just kill the Elders shit-for-brains? Why the entire village? Do you really wish to spit on your brother's last request, who you started loving again in like…I don't know two to three chapters? *sighs* I mean think about it from his aspect.

He has lived solely for the purpose of killing Itachi to avenge his clan. He even went rogue to join an S Rank Criminal for the sake of vengeance. You can't just get rid of those emotions like that in a second and generate something completely opposite from the other end of the spectrum. You'd have to be a master of emotional tempering, something he definitely is not. He's got an Inferiority Complex, a Superiority Complex and a General Dick-to-His-Friends Complex. He is far from being emotionally stable to actually have a rational mind and pull something like that off. BTW, remember when he killed Danzo? Yeah, okay.

SEE THE CLAN WAS AVENGED! RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT! THE MAN WHO ORDERED THE MASSACRE IS DEAD! THE CLAN WAS AVENGED! But fuck logic, he's going to go with the man who openly said he along with Itachi slaughtered the clan. Where's your vengeance now, oh mighty avenger? But he still decides to destroy the Leaf for some reason…. That is when I lost my shit and stopped caring about him. I told myself he's just an imaginary character I have to ignore when I read Naruto, but the manga won't let me and neither will the internet.

So there you have it folks, I do not hate Sasuke Uchiha. I just don't like the little shit that's why I like to make fun of him every now and then. Honestly, I think he would've been more befitting as a final villain and I do mean 'villain'. I mean that would've wrapped things up in a good way. However when it comes to fighting and an overall shinobi, I prefer Sasuke over Naruto. He's just a smarter fighter than Naruto, but that doesn't mean he's a better character. Can you imagine what would happen if Sasuke was real and you were better than him in Demons Souls, Dark Souls I/II/III or Bloodborne? Holy shit, he'd go after the guys from FromSoftware for making him lose that many times!

Enough! I've ranted on long enough. Let's get to the disclaimer and read the shit. We got a fucking invasion to cover and hopefully I can finish the fights properly within this one chapter. Keep in mind that I am not a great writer, far from it I am not even a good writer yet. So if the chapter gets cringe-y please bear with it. By the way one of you guessed who the third trump card was right, but sorry to say I changed it. Now bring that shitty disclaimer.

* * *

 **THE FOLLOWING IS A NON PROFIT FAN BASED FICTION**

 **NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ARE OWNED BY STUDIO PIERROT, TV TOKYO, VIZ MEDIA SHUIESHA AND MASASHI KISHIMOTO**

 **CONTENTS USED FROM OTHER KNOWN AND RECOGNIZED SERIES ALSO DON'T BELONG TO ME**

 **YOU HONESTLY THINK I'D B WRITING THIS SHIT IF I DID?**

 **THIS STORY IS RATED M FOR A REASON AS IT CONTAINS VIOLENCE, COARSE LANGUAGE AND ADULT SITUATIONS NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THE OFFICIAL RELEASE**

* * *

ROOT Base#2, Underground Tunnel System, Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni

'In Root, you have no name. You have no feelings. You have no past. You have no future. There is only the mission.' Was the last thought that one certain white haired ROOT operative had before his soul left his body. This was the same thought many other bodies lying beside them had as they departed for life after death.

Screams of pain could be heard as a shark scale being in the form of sword giggled with delight. His frame was bathing blood as more of the tapes that held back its power was coming off. To the sentient blade this was exhilarating to the point a lust induced human craved for sex. Samehada had been shaving off chakra for some time now. His current master, Kisame Hoshigaki was living up to his name as the Monster of the Hidden Mist as he literally tore through the ANBU with the most powerful of the Seven Revered Blades of the Mist.

"You know, Itachi." The blue skinned rogue nin said as picked up one of the ANBU by his throat before making his trusted and living sword cleave cleanly through his then threw the ANBU away like a doll before he spoke. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're making me do all the work. I thought Konoha nin prided on teamwork, you usually are more helping when we face great numbers." He said and turned around as all one hundred of the Black Ops shinobi they had faced when they entered were lying everywhere.

Kisame Hoshigaki alone had killed more than 60 of them with just his blade and a handful of **Suiton** jutsu, he didn't even need to use the ones that cause a flood in the entire hideout.

Did these foolish ANBU think they were a match for him, a chakra freak of a shinobi that even Yagura the Mad Kage tried to get on his side?

What foolish hopes. Their fates were sealed before they even had the chance.

Itachi himself was no joke, a few of the operatives that he knew when he was an agent of ROOT were still active and so were the genjutsu transcriptions he placed on them when he had worked with them.

Itachi was probably the most shrewed shinobi in the history of Konoha and he had contingencies for even long running plans. **Shi o Nemuru: Sharingan / Sleeping Death: Sharingan,** an A ranked genjutsu that lasted for a horrendously long time. Genjutsu in many aspects was like fuuinjutsu. Whereas the art of sealing dealt with mostly physical aspects, genjutsu in both theory and application was intangible and lived up to its name. This was why he had created that genjutsu when he was thirteen.

When he fled from Konoha, a few ROOT agents were sent to kill him but ended up killing each other as he had placed that genjutsu on them along with on a lot of other agents when they so unwisely looked into his eyes.

"I have to conserve my strength for the upcoming fight." The Uchiha who massacred his own clan replied swiftly. While he did have a plan to counteract Danzo's **Izanagi** , but for him to follow the plan they made he couldn't use _that_. That wasn't the only reason though. He had something else to do, something that was very important to him. He looked around and walked to one of the four armed statue and pressed the lower left arm as the gate near them opened.

"So, how many do we have left? Samehada seems to be very excited today." He said and the sword giggled as it nodded with its master's words. Itachi said nothing but watching a sword having a mind of its own made him look at it with a raised eyebrow.

"Around a hundred and fifty." Itachi said and strode forward.

He forcefully extracted the information from the ANBU's mind. He knew about the **Cursed Tags** on their tongues, and used **Chishiki Kisechuu / Knowledge Parasite** to extract the information.

Unlike a certain blue eyed Uchiha who needed to use his Mangekyou to get the full usage, he could do this easily with his normal one. Not that he would label his pseudo-younger brother as weak, he was just not there yet. But something in the rogue nin's mind told him that the day he does wasn't too far away given his unnatural growth rate.

"Gigigigigigigi" came the loud bloodthirsty giggle of Samehada as the scales of the sword were sharpening out more. Kisame petted the blade as if trying to calm him down.

"There, there. Don't worry. We'll get more victims." The sharp teethed man said to his living sword.

"Hn." Itachi said as he walked forward with Kisame.

He could tell there were traps laid throughout the place. But none of them would work, he already knew the layout of this place and the intel he had extracted would come into play. Thankfully having a pseudo-Tailed Beast did help his cause, now all that was left was to make sure that the Akatsuki don't exactly catch wind of this.

And as Naruto told him, should Zetsu appear or is alone in front of Itachi….he should be taken care of immediately.

* * *

Stadium

"Hmm." The masked one eyed jounin thought out loud as he slashed an Oto nin's throat open with his kunai.

The reason he did this was because he noted how the young genin of Konoha from this batch were actually holding their own. This was surprising. It seemed that the Chunnin Exams had been something of a wake-up call for them as they were fighting the enemy shinobi head on, with the exception of one Rock Lee. Poor boy had his leg broken after all, but still you had to give him points for hitting one of them with his crutch no less.

He saw Sakura Haruno trap three shinobi in a wire, Choji Akimichi rolling like boulder to flatten them out. Ino caught one enemy with her **Mind Transfer Jutsu** and then slipping quietly into their ranks to take them out and switch to more enemies for as much as she could. Shino Aburame was using his bugs to torture his enemies as they entered their ears, now that was painful to imagine. Hinata Hyuga was surprisingly taking out all the vital points of the enemies as she disabled their tenketsu points. He also noted how the other jounin sensei were also seeing their students flourish.

They were proud.

However, the impressive feat came when a large water dragon formed in the middle of the attending area and took out a lot of shinobi with them. Now if there was a lake nearby or some other form of water, this would've been completely normal. However, the fact was there was no large body of water present except bottled water. Kakashi saw that it was his student, Kasumi Uzumaki who did the jutsu and was grinning like a madman as she finished taking out the enemies.

'She can pull out water from the very atmosphere.' The scarecrow noted and was proud. Her mother also had a large water affinity, but not as dense as hers. 'Maybe I'll tell her this later, don't want her pranking everyone after this is over.'

"Man, Tomato-chan is going to be one hell of a kunoichi once she hits her peak." Came the voice of one amused Anko Mitarashi as she let looser some snakes on a couple of Suna nin as they were strangled to death. "You know, I'm almost thinking of taking her off your hands Kakashi."

"Tough luck with that." Kakashi said as broke a man's neck with his bare hands and lifted the hitai-ate off to use his Sharingan. He disappeared out of everyone's sights only to reappear as he killed a few more shinobi. "They seem to keep spawning. How many shinobi do they have anyway?"

"At this point it's getting annoying." Kurenai said as she stopped using the ram seal as four shinobi were lying on the ground out cold as they drooled and their eyes went white. The scarecrow jounin did not want to know exactly what she showed them.

"Well, it's not like we have a choice." Came the voice of one Asuma Sarutobi who had just finished off his bunch of invading nin. His trench knives had stopped humming as the blue chakra around them receded. He took the leisurely time to bring out a cigarette and lighted it up.

Kurenai frowned at this and sighed. Why couldn't they be more serious? She could actually hear Gai giving out lessons to Lee when he was done dealing with his crop of enemies.

She noted that Sasuke Uchiha was still there and a small verbal confrontation was going on between him and the Sand Siblings. Gaara had finally came out of his protective shell and was bleeding and barely conscious. She saw that they had made a run for it and Genma was battling Baki at that spot.

ANBU were taking care of the never ending amount of shinobi while another group was observing the purple flamed barrier erected around the roof of the Kage Stand. Kasumi Uzumaki after taking care of a few more shinobi had made her way out of the stadium with Shino and Shikamaru as they were heading out in the same direction as the Sand Siblings.

"Kakashi, they're going after Gaara." Kurenai said as Might Gai joined their group and all four shinobi were surrounded by scores of other enemy troops, "Are you sure it's wise to let them go after him?"

"Jiraiya-sama gave Kasumi a seal to repress the BIjuu's chakra." The Copy Ninja said as each Leaf nin stood back to back. "You know something. I think this is the first time all of us have fought together in years."

"Well, Kakashi my youthful friend." Gai began with his teeth smiling "While you were busy in ANBU-

"Now is not the time." Kurenai said as she had seen some of the shinobi chuckling at the group. Didn't they know they were going to die?

"Just like back in those days." Asuma was the one who said it this time as the dropped his cigarette and screams of pain could be heard as all four of them began to fight the invading shinobi.

* * *

Main Town

Scores of shinobi wearing the attires and hitai-ate of Suna and Oto could be seen flocking across the buildings of Konoha. It was a strange sight to see indeed. They held their weapons in their hands as their eyes searched for general life to destroy or at the very least hold some hostages to gain some sort of psychological advantage over the Leaf. Konoha always did preach camaraderie and teamwork above all.

That was why the other villages used to call them tree huggers because of their stern belief in teamwork, their drive for protecting the innocent and general love for peace.

This was why a lot of nations viewed them weak. However, those who had been in altercation with the Leaf previously knew exactly what distances the Hidden Leaf would go to fend off their enemies. However, the bizarre factor in all this was that the invading enemies of chunnin squads did not find a single person to kill or kidnap. It was a ghost town to say the least.

"Hey, did you find anyone?" asked one Kosaku Chouko to his Oto squad.

"None sir." came the reply from one of his subordinates.

"Stick together and keep searching. There's no way so many people can vanish all of a sudden." He ordered and they complied. Each of the groups of three were moving together and he decided to ask one more question before they left. "Where's that squad that was supposed to get the Uchiha?"

"They haven't come back yet sir." once more getting an answer from his subordinates.

This was strange, according to the intel he had they should've come back. It was four chunnin level shinobi going after one genin, strong genin or not four against one were odds even he wouldn't want to fight against. However, he could not finish his thoughts as he heard a noise in the air, it sounded like a high pitch frequency of something coming in fast.

He turned around to see something shimmering as his vision realized that that it was a sickle, a very large sickle that was aiming for his head.

"Oh shi-"

*SQUELCH*

The words died in his mouth as his face was cut cleanly in two. Blood showered everywhere as the people around him realized what had happened. One of their own had killed the squad leader. The perpetrator held the weapon as he looked at them with a bored look on his face.

"KAI!" came the collected yell of all the shinobi around them and they all saw the genjutsu around the traitor fade to reveal the person for who he really was.

Cold blue eyes were the first thing they saw. The kama in his hand still fresh with the blood of their leader resonated was in his hand and was shivering, shivering with eager excitement to kill them all. The Uchiha looked at them and raised his empty left hand as some strings appeared at the end of his fingers. He raised it up and the sound of various collected wires coiling winding up came. The invading shinobi realized why he had been among their ranks for such an amount of time.

However, their minds could not react quickly as thin 0.2mm standard ninja wire sharp as the day it was made came flying in from every direction as it closed off all paths of exits and their bodies were trapped by the machinating wires. The razor thin wires bit into their bodies to the extent that they could feel their blood trickling out of their bodies. Their eyes darted around, all 14 pairs of them and saw the Uchiha tug on the wire as bit on it with his teeth and made the tiger hand seal.

" **Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu / Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu"** the last words they heard as it left the Uchiha's tongue and fire scurried along the lines to kill the fourteen shinobi that were looking to take advantage of the situation. The young Uchiha looked around, he could not feel any chakra signatures around him at the moment.

'Looks like the civilians were cleared in due time.' Naruto thought in his mind as he heard large crashing noises a fair distance away from him. 'Summons probably. I can feel two squads nearby, probably ANBU. I'll leave the shinobi to them. Those snakes can be more annoying.'

Naruto rushed in the direction where the large crashes were becoming more imminent and saw that five large snakes had been summoned. He could see more operatives with large sealing scrolls. Naruto had miscalculated on his part. He did not expect that there would be these many summons around, or of this scale.

Perhaps if Jiraiya was around his Toad summons could've helped. But, precautions were his specialty and he had just the plan for this.

Ibiki Morino spotted him and **Shunshin-ed** near him.

"This is a bit of a bind." said the Head of Torture and Interrogation to the young chunnin. Of course Ibiki was in on the information from the beginning and knew by the look on the blue eyed teen's face he was planning something.

"It is. But nothing we can't take care of." Naruto bit his finger as blood came flowing out ever so slowly which he then rubbed against the palm of his right hand staining with it with his genetic information and started making hand seals.

'So he has summons.' Ibiki thought as he looked at the hand seals being made. 'Does he have a Boss level summon that could change this? Then again what exactly will he summon?'

"You might want to stand back, Morino-san." Naruto said and the Scarred Sadist did so at the prospect of what large summon he would see. Naruto slammed his hand on the ground as the black lines of kanji spread on the bare ground.

" **Kuchiyose no Jutsu."** Said the young Uchiha as a cloud of smoke surrounded him. Then as the smoke dissipated and the tension dissolved, the summon was revealed.

A near human sized looking wolf whose ebony colored fur that seemed to be drawing in the attention of the snake who spotted him

Ibiki tried to get rid of whatever genjutsu the Uchiha was using to trick his enemies, making them think that it was a small summon but in reality it was a Boss Level Summon.

Putting his hands in the ram seal and muttering "Kai" Ibiki saw that this was not a genjutsu but rather a real wolf that was half as tall as the boy himself.

This is what he told him to move away from? Was he in a gaming mood in the midst of an invasion?

"Oh, Naruto. Is it that time already?" the wolf, Garoujin asked. The growing cub was strong, but not strong enough to take on scores of enemy by himself yet, much less take down a few Boss Level Summons.

"Hai. Is your father coming?" Naruto asked the wolf clad in black as he shook his head. Naruto was a bit disappointed but he realized why Garougenki wasn't coming. Simply put, Garougenki was a beast of destruction, and having heard that it would be a populated area he had already opted not to take part.

"Don't worry though. Someone else is coming, and those snakes are going to be in one hell of a surprise." The black wolf said as a scroll appeared beside him and he with human like reflexes he opened the scroll before he stood on it and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Two of the snakes seem to have acknowledged the presence of Naruto Uchiha and the foreign smell of wolf that had previously entered their menacing nostrils. The Uchiha in question crossed his arms as he looked bored, however he was getting impatient.

He didn't have time to deal with this shit, however he had to keep a cool and collected mind despite how ridiculous the situation may become. Then he saw the circular kanji on the open scroll glowing. This was a plan he made with the direwolves of Kabe no Kita. He had informed them of the impending Invasion of his village.

At first the direwolves did not want to come, however the prospect of a good fight was what tempted them to agree to his plan along with the fact that they heard that snake summons would be there. They hated snakes for some reason, apparently it was some old feud between them. That or they hated snakes, either way worked for him.

So the direwolves gave him reverse summoning scroll that allowed the summon to pinpoint the location and be present there, this also meant that Naruto would not have to use chakra to summon such said beast. Garoujin had just done that and a large, very large body of smoke erupted to cover the entire area around them to the point the buildings were also covered.

Then the smoke faded and Naruto Uchiha stood proudly on top of the head of the best.

Grey fur could be seen on the creature's body. His teeth jagged and drooling for flesh of his enemies. His golden eyes were looking at the snakes in front of him as he prepared for battle. The Uchiha looked down and realized that it was none other than Sif, the Great Grey Direwolf as he liked to call himself. Still a relatively new large scale direwolf on the scene, however among all the direwolves of this size he was the most proficient and caused little collateral damage.

" **Naruto, so these are the filthy snakes you talked about."** Sif spoke with a dissatisfied voice. Oh yes, he forgot. Sif was also a direwolf of battle thirst and had a skeptical mind. Each of them had their quirks, however Sif was no stranger to combat and Naruto knew that all too well.

"Yes, there are about five now. But judging by the sealing array scrolls they have, there might be more." Said the blue eyed Uchiha and the Sif scoffed at the words he said.

" **I hope they're strong, otherwise this would be boring."** Sif said with some disappointment. He felt Naruto sit down on one knee and pet his furry head. Now, Sif was an extremely proud direwolf like his kin, so admitting that he liked when someone pet a mighty beast like him was embarrassing so he silently stay put and took the petting.

"If you get too bored make sure that you switch out with Yūrei and Natsu. I'm sure they'll be looking forward to some fights." Naruto said goading him further. Naruto saw that the snake had hissed and gave the warning rattle that it was going to strike.

As its mouth opened and was about reach the Uchiha to devour him, the head of the snake came off as its blood spilt and covered the buildings of Konoha. Sif had one of his paws extended in the air as his claws had blood on them.

" **You insult me Naruto**." Sif spoke with a mocking mellowed voice. " **Here I thought we were friends.** "

"We are friends. I just wanted to see how much incentive you needed." Naruto spoke as he saw the other snake coming in and this time Sif weaved around the lunge the viper did and kicked him away. Sif then breathed in as yellow flames covered its hinds and shoulders.

" **Katon: Ōkami no Kokyū / Fire Release: Burning Breath of the Wolf"** he muttered as he roared out yellow flames that burned the attacking snake and the other snake right behind it. A group of Otogakure shinobi was also burned to death as the large stream of flames consumed them and melted their very bones.

" **Like I said, you insult me. Now get going and leave these…what did you call them ah that's right… _Mongrels_ to me** " Sif said and then looked at the first summoner of the Direwolves. The Uchiha merely looked at him with an annoyed look before he made a single ram seal.

"Sometimes I think we get along too well. Stay safe Sif." Naruto said before disappearing in a **Shunshin** with no smoke. The wolf chuckled a bit at the summoner's words. He then looked at the hissing snakes and the shitless summoners who held the scrolls. Boy he would be killing a lot of filthy lizards today.

" **Oi snake eaters. Bring out more of your summons, today I'm going to redefine the 'Hour of the Wolf'.** " He said and it seemed like his words seemed to have an effect on the enemy shinobi as the remaining snakes were looking to strike him but were measuring their distance right now. Sif's eyes noticed a man standing near him on the rooftop of a building and the direwolf noted the Leaf hitai-ate he was wearing.

" **Enjoying the show?"** Sif asked with a toothy grin which made him look that much more menacing.

"How did that brat even get direwolves as summons?" the Head of the Torture and Interrogation Department asked in a bewildered manner.

Direwolves were rare, _rare_ creatures almost to the point they were considered mythical or considered extinct like phoenixes and dragons. And now near Boss level size summon of a direwolf was standing before the world holding it as a witness as it was openly challenging the invading shinobi, and the direwolf himself was brought here by a teen no less.

" **I heard it was a funny story. Our boss says that it was an accident gone right with fruitful results.** " The Great Grey Wolf said as he noted more bodies of large smoke appearing in the area around them.

Okay, maybe he'd go a little berserk when fighting, it wasn't like there were any people around otherwise Naruto would've told him. His paws caught flames as he jumped up in the air and slammed them against each other. Flames danced in the wind from the collision and he laughed like a true battle maniac as he descended down to wreak havoc.

" **ENTERTAIN ME MAGGOTS!"**

* * *

*CRASH*

"And this is exactly why I wanted to keep an eye on him." Naruto muttered as he stood alone in the shadows.

Sif would come through in the end and probably take care of the snakes. After that he had also made plans with Natsu and Yurei who would switch places with Sif after all the large summons have been taken care of. Natsu and Yurei were direwolves that were as large as Kuromaru, Tsume Inuzuka's canine partner in crime.

The prime difference was that those two were even crazier than Sif in some cases, he could feel he would have to pay for repairs even more once those two arrived.

Sighing he made some hand seals, exactly 32 of them before he bit his index finger. He did so in such a manner that it would bleed for a minute or two.

The blood kept dropping on the surface and kept moving like a wavy body of water. As much as Naruto wanted to follow the plan play by play, there was something he couldn't ignore. Over the years when he had began to become colder and more of a reclusive Uchiha thoughts of betraying the village and going rogue before killing a few Elders had crossed his mind.

However when she came into his life, he wasn't just responsible for his life. He had something that bound him to the village and someone he loved. It was for that reason he was doing this right now and he knew that he would run a bit lower on chakra than he had planned, but there was no way in hell he would let Kasumi Uzumaki face a fucking bijuu alone.

" **Kodona Chi Bunshin no Jutsu / Advanced Blood Clone Jutsu"** Naruto said as his finger still dropped blood on the small forming puddle of blood that twisted itself into a human looking shape that stood the same size as Naruto before it took the same look as him.

Naruto took out a bottle of chakra induced antiseptic liquid as he doused the wound with it. This **Blood Clone** was by its very name more enhanced in nature, usage and durability; in fact one fourth of his entire chakra was put into this clone alone. It was a gamble, but if it kept her safe then it was worth it.

To be honest, he did have faith in her abilities but still a little precaution never hurt.

"Go and find Kasumi. Help her in defeating Gaara. Keep her safe." Naruto said to his clone who nodded before leaving off in the direction of the stadium.

Naruto saw his clone fading into the distance. The clone was doing good in suppressing his chakra signature well, at least having your chakra shaved off a quarter increased your control even more. Now Naruto sighed as he headed towards the abandoned training grounds designated by numbers 56 and 57.

For there lied a secret passageway to the place he was looking to gain entrance to.

* * *

Hokage Stand

A squad of ANBU waited outside the **Four Purple Flames Barrier** that had been erected by four Oto nin that were surprisingly already inside the building itself. Clearly there was someone inside the Leaf helping them otherwise entry to the building was impossible without prior planning. Squad Sigma could do nothing but stand and watch their leader, the Sandaime Hokage and his student Jiraiya the Toad Sage take on Orochimaru and a group of shinobi who were also hiding in the building.

However, their worry was not as great as one could assume.

This was the Sandaime Hokage who was fighting, no matter how old he had his experience as a shinobi which expanded more than five decades along with his ridiculous skills that could still give a Kage a run for their money even now was present in the fray. Along with him was Jiraiya who was previously approached to be the Hokage on two separate occasions and refused each time, was also there as he smashed the skulls of several shinobi.

Orochimaru seemed to be making hand seals and the Toad Sage's eyes finally caught a hold of this.

The white haired Sannin rushed in front of Orochimaru as they began to fight each other hand to hand. Having sparred for years, both knew what moves the other was capable of however Jiraiya was fighting more erratically now and the katas he used generally were beginning to differ and as the Snake Sannin left a single opening, the Toad Sage kicked Orochimaru away. The Snake Sannin was beginning to make the same set of hand seals again, Jiraiya had stored some oil in his mouth after the Toads had drawn a seal on his gums and began to make hand seals of his own as he breathed in.

" **Katon: Endan / Fire Release: Flame Bullet"** Jiraiya said as he first spit out oil and consequently shot out a large bullet like shape of flames that shot towards the Snake Sannin. Orochimaru being the slithery snake he was known for being dodged the large pellet of flame that destroyed the previous spot he was standing in. He noted the burning factor of the jutsu and noted that Jiraiya did not have enough time to put that much chakra inside the jutsu, yet the damaging factor of the jutsu was high.

Then it clicked in his intricate mind.

"My, my Jiraiya. Using oil to enhance your jutsu's power and here I thought you'd be the idiot we all remembered." Orochimaru said as he peeled off the last of the skin that resembled Sabaku no Rasa. He was now standing proudly before his former teacher and teammate.

As much as he'd want to reminisce and talk about old times he couldn't. He was here for two purposes: One to get a new body, either of the Uchiha teens would suffice though he would prefer it was Naruto Uchiha. Secondly, to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi.

One may ask why the student would kill the teacher. The reason was simple. Orochimaru as a child had an inane fear of death, a fear he couldn't describe. He knew he would die one day, but he didn't want to. Under no circumstances he would die. Having lost his parents in the First Great Ninja War death became something akin to an enemy to the Snake Sannin.

Under tutelage of the Sandaime, he had grown to be a strong shinobi and witnessed the world they lived in. Only the mighty rule and the weak fall, one of the key factors that drove him to be so strong. However, somewhere along the way he began to find the emotions that humans bear somewhat distasteful.

Despite having comrades, Orochimaru did not have anyone he could call family. He saw that the more people become more familiar with each other, the closer they got and when either of the two died the other would be affected. So he simply chose to not be that close with anyone in particular at all, even Anko was nothing more than an apprentice. Someone he taught, not loved or cared for a large scale.

Then he discovered the possibility of immortality. The chance of not succumbing to death, and the possibility of learning every jutsu that would take lifetimes was something he could not miss out on. His mind wouldn't allow it. To discover a meaningful end result to his questions, he began to kidnap people and experiment on them.

Danzo Shimura was one of the people who, strictly speaking agree with some of his methods and provided him the resources. Orochimaru was a former ANBU after all and knew all about the Shinobi of Darkness. The Snake Sannin took the offer and even made Danzo an arm from the cells of Hashirama Senju, which Danzo had embedded with several Sharingan which he obtained via means that even Orochimaru did not know. However, when he was caught red handed by Sarutobi something inside him snapped.

Did his sensei not understand his ideals? Did Sarutobi not see the benefits of attaining immortality? They were shinobi, human experimentation was nothing short of taboo considering most of the wars they caused and lives they took. To him when Saruobi said the words 'I failed you. You're no student of mine' that was a stab in his twisted mind. Orochimaru took it as incentive that one day the Professor would one day be out to stop seeing it as a duty that only the teacher would carry out by executing his wayward student.

That is what Orochimaru thought anyway.

"To think you'd plan invasion on your very home. I almost regret not putting you down all those years ago." The Toad Sage said with a heavy voice.

Being an orphan, Jiraiya truly had no one he could call family. Until the second Team Seven was formed which consisted of Sarutobi and the then young Densetsu no Sannin. When asked why their team was called Team Seven and why they were the second one, the Sandaime revealed the true meaning behind it.

The original Team Seven was lead by the Nidaime Hokage and the name for the team was because of its seven members: Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kagami Uchiha, Danzo Shimura, Torifu Akimichi, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. They were the team that Tobirama trusted much more so than his own ANBU guard. Team Seven therefore became the title that would be given to generally the best overall teams.

For the first time in his life, Jiraiya understood what it meant to be a part of family. Sure his plans on hitting Tsunade didn't work out as well as he'd like but she did care for him. Orochimaru was like the annoying brother in a family you loved to hate, but relied on nonetheless. When Orochimaru went rogue, Jiraiya felt betrayed as a person he'd grown up with, went to war with, shared his drinks with and even knew a few personal aspects of life could leave their village was something he could not fathom.

When he confronted Orochimaru in the Land of Fire, the Toad Sage had held back. He held back so he didn't end up hurting Orochimaru, knowing full well that if both went out there was a high possibility both of them would. So he held back and let his once friend escape.

Another regret, one that allowed a nation to be overtaken by his friend. The Land of Rice became the Land of Sound. No doubt Orochimaru was behind this and from the information the Uchiha brat gave, that was his base of operations.

"Jiraiya you speak like you could kill me anytime you want." The Snake Sannin said, slightly angry at the words the clown of his generation said. Jiraiya was strong, but in his mind he was not strong enough to take him down. However, he had to admit he had never fought Jiriya with a hundred percent seriousness ever since the Third Great Ninja War.

Did Jiraiya have a trump card?

The rogue nin then chuckled. No matter what tricks they had up his sleeve, he had more than them. He noticed how his former sensei was wearing the armor he was famous for, the Sarutobi Warring States Armor.

He licked his lips in battle lust, his sensei was serious. True, he did not account for Jiraiya to be there but this changed nothing. The only difference would be that Jiraiya would die alongside his sensei and the process of that event completing itself would take a bit more time. He then noted that the two shinobi were looking to attack him. First he'd have to keep them busy.

He made three hand seals and bit his lips as blood was present in his mouth.

" **Mandara no Jin / Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes"** he said as an endless amount of vipers started rushing out of his mouth. One after another, scores of them kept covering the ground and the rate at which they were coming forth was not slowing down. Some of the snakes even had swords coming out of their mouths as they hissed. True to its name, more than a thousand snakes appeared and some of them were forming something like a wall in front of the Snake Sannin.

"Jiraiya, we need to take the snakes out. We can't let Orochimaru finish his jutsu." Sarutobi said as he began to weave through hand seals.

Hand seals that Jiraiya knew and followed with his own set of hand seals. This was something that was drilled into his mind ever since he was young.

To take down scores of shinobi in front of you with a collaboration jutsu, and Jiraiya knew exactly what his sensei was going to use.

" **Gamayudan / Toad Oil Bullet"** Jiraiya said as he not only used the oil from the seal on his gums but also converted his chakra into the highly combustible liquid.

Being a summoner of the Toads had perks that very few other beast affiliated summons had. The mass of oil that was spit out was spreading around the incoming snakes and landed on them with great force pushing them back momentarily. Sarutobi finished his hand seals as he spoke the name of his jutsu.

" **Doton: Doryudan / Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet"** Sarutobi said as a muddy dragon head formed from the residue mud of a jutsu Jiraiya had used previously to shoot out earthen bullets towards the snake that were coming to rush them. However, the Sandaime did not stop there as he kept making more hand seals and stopped once more.

" **Katon: Karyudan / Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet"** the Sandaime Hokage said as he exhaled a breath of flames that covered the bullets of muddy earth to make searing fire bombs. They rained down on the body of snakes and with the oil present, the fire spread around the snakes burning and melting them down to nothing as it so deviously chased and reached the slithery wall of snakes.

They fell each and every one of them as the defensive form of living organisms became nothing but rotten flesh.

Orochimaru was a bit annoyed, annoyed at the fact that all of the snakes had been killed. Manda would be bothering about this and would ask for a large, _large_ amount of tribute.

However, that was the least of his worries as right now he was that much closer to killing them. For beside Orochimaru stood three wooden coffins, all three stood there and waited for the person who summoned them to do something with these. On each of the coffin was a piece of paper. However, each paper had a different initial on it or rather a different number on it.

'1'

'2'

'4'

Both the Toad Sage and the Professor were feeling awry at the presence of the coffins. They knew just how much Orochimaru had fancied delving into forbidden jutsu. It was almost as much as Jiraiya peeked on the women at the Hot Springs and seeing the coffins there was only one conclusion they could reach.

But…..the third one didn't make sense. However, before they could respond the coffins signified by the numbers '1' and '2' had their caskets opened and it fell down.

The resounding thud added only more worry as two people made their way out of each of their respective coffins. The footsteps along with the slight movements of the plated armor moving could be heard. Then the two figures came into view. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, known widely as the Professor had lived through three Great Ninja Wars. Ever since he became Hokage he won every battle he took part in, the only blemish that he had on his record was a tie against Hanzo the Salamander. He was never afraid to rush into the battlefield even when the Nine Tails appeared all those years ago.

However he felt a cold sweat run down his spine upon seeing those who walked out of the morbid coffins. To him it was both horrifying and sad at the same time.

The first person was a tall man with tanned skin and white irises, as the sclera was pitch black. He had waist-length black hair typically styled in a centre-parted fringe that framed his face, a hitai-ate of Konoha was on his forehead. He wore the standard shinobi dress that was reminiscent of the Warring States Era, consisting of dark red armour worn over a simple black suit with sandals. This armour was constructed from numerous metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body; each collar of his shoulder guards bore a symbol.

The symbol of the Senju Clan. Cracks were visible on his clothes and skin.

Jiraiya couldn't say anything, his mind was still absorbing what was happening before him.

Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage stood before him. He was dead, yet he here was. A victim of the **Edo Tensei no Jutsu / Imperfect Reanimation Jutsu**. A forbidden jutsu that takes away chakra from the caster of the jutsu, but also brings back people momentarily from the dead so as long as the caster wills it so. They would have bodies that would suffer damage, but would keep reforming. This was the first time the Toad Sage had noted its usage.

However, the next word his sensei said made him realize how much more grave the situation was.

The other coffin that had the number '2'.

"Sensei."

One word. One word that made Jiraiya's eyes widen even further. The other coffin's host had come out as well.

The second person was a fair-skinned man with white, shaggy hair and dark-red eyes; like the other reanimated shinobi his sclera was black as well. He had three red markings on his face, one under each of his eyes and one on his chin. He wore blue armour with a distinctive white fur collar over a simple black suit. This armour was constructed from numerous metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body. Beneath his shoulder armour he wore two bands on each arm. This clothing was accompanied by sandals and a happuri in place of the more traditional forehead protector. The happuri was initially engraved with the leaf symbol of Village itself.

Cracks present everywhere on his frame, as the man who had created this jutsu became a victim of his own device.

Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage stood as his calculative eyes darted around before noting his own presence. He had a strange body which felt hollow and empty. He knew exactly what was going on, however the sight before him was far more interesting.

"Saru." said the Nidaime Hokage as he looked at the aged old man in front of him. Even after growing old, the Sandaime felt like a wet behind the ears genin when Tobirama called him that, a monkey.

The white haired man looked to the side and saw another shinobi significantly taller than his student and he had the kanji for 'oil' on his happuri. However, his greatest surprise was when he saw his brother stand beside, undead.

"Nii-san." Tobirama said, a bit glad seeing his brother but under the wrong conditions. Before he could say anything he felt something foreign enter his nape. It felt disgusting and there was a smell of snakes around the source. After the foreign sensation exited, he spoke again.

"It seems we've become victims to the **Edo Tensei** " the Nidaime said in quick manner. His face no longer showed emotions, for whatever little he showed previously. The man beside him spoke up this time.

"This was one of the reasons why I didn't want you to complete this jutsu. Something as dangerous as this always did have drawbacks." The Shodaime Hokage said with a neutral expression. He then noted the person who was behind them and took in his appearance. Very bizarre indeed.

"I take it you are the one who summoned us?" the Shodaime asked as the probably caster giggled at his words.

"Of course. It's an honor to meet you. Shodaime-sama. Nidaime-sama." said the Snake Sannin with delight and this time the blue armoured Hokage spoke.

"To think a jutsu I created would be used on me." Tobirama said and then spoke while looking at the pale skinned man. "You put **Binding Talismans** as well, didn't you? Doing that you made sure we obeyed your orders."

"You're just as perceptive as Sarutobi-sensei told us." Orochimaru said and this time both former Hokage looked at him with a neutral stare, if they had their emotions then Hiruzen probably would've felt worse.

"I never thought I could pull off a Tobirama, but you really messed up with your student Saru." the Shodaime said with a straight face and had the seriousness of the situation not been grave, the Sandaime would've laughed. Hashirama Senju had the worst poker face in the world.

"I don't believe how you even managed to say that." Tobirama added his two cents. He then looked at the man beside Hiruzen and spoke to him, "Who are you?"

"This is Jiraiya, sensei. He's another one of my students, and a much better one than the one standing behind you." said Sarutobi as he had a stern look on his face. Whatever tears he had to shed already been done with.

There were some things that could not be forgiven, desecrating the graves of his former teachers and mentors was something that Sarutobi would not take lightly. Orochimaru was going to be dealt with today. But another worry was on his mind.

'4'

The coffin with that number was worrying him. It couldn't be Minato…..could it?

"That's not Minato." said Jiraiya as he spoke with a tone that reeked of anger and fuelled with malice.

Minato was indeed the closest thing he had to a son, and if that was Minato the Toad Sage would not hold back. History between the two former teammates would be just that, history. However there was a reason why Jiraiya was so confident behind his statement, and he was pretty sure that Orochimaru couldn't work his way around _that_ jutsu.

"The **Shiki Fujin / Dead Demon Consuming Seal** traps the caster's soul in the gut of the Shinigami." Jiraiya said as he remembered how his apprentice's soul would forever be trapped there in that unforgiving limbo, unable to move on to the next cycle of life.

"He's right." Hashirama was the one who said it. "The **Shiki Fujin** is a seal that cannot be tampered with, not without extreme measures anyway. I assume that you brought us here to fight Sarutobi and his student."

"You flatter me, Shodaime-sama. While you're right about the **Shiki Fujin** not being broken, I will find a way around it. And yes, you are going to go and kill Sarutobi-sensei along with Jiraiya. Ironic isn't it? You killing the current Hokage in Konoha no less." Orochimaru finished with a sickening smile and if they had the ability to show their emotions they would've.

Jiraiya was not saying anything. However, he had clenched his fists had enough to draw out blood. The fight that was going to break out was no joke. He and his sensei would have to fight three Kage level shinobi. Four if the last coffin was opened. He drew out blood so that he could summon two toads, two particular toads that could help him change the tide of his battle. But he would need some time, just enough time to bring out his full strength.

"You're going to lose." Tobirama said all of a sudden as everyone's eyes were focused on him. "I taught Saru from the day he graduated from the Academy. My brother instilled his ideals into him. And there's the fact that both of us are heavily powered down because you're controlling our actions strictly with those **Binding Talismans**. Had they not been there, both of us would rescinded the contract already."

"That's right." the Sandaime said with a tone of reassurance. "Had I been alone, then this fight would've been one-sided even if sensei and Shodaime-sama were powered down along with you attacking me. Having Jiraiya here changes the situation just that much."

"Do you take me for a fool?" said the Snake Sannin, clearly some anger was present. This was something that Orochimaru had in spades, something that Jiraiya and the Sandaime were privy to: Arrogance.

Orochimaru did not like to be lectured down, mostly because of the fact no one ever did. Everything he ever did was perfect, he never left room for errors. Criticism was something he was not used to taking and that too at this age, Jiraiya thought it would wound his pride more than anything else.

"Enough." Orochimaru said as he made the ram hand seal. The first two Hokage were now staring at Sarutobi and Jiriaya. Then the Snake Sannin smile once more. "I really do have another plan. Sure it may take away a bit more of my chakra. However, with this I can easily take care of you all. Four against are overwhelming odds when you're fighting Kage level shinobi. Even if they're powered down."

Then the final thud came. The door of the third coffin fell down. Once more all five Kage level shinobi looked at the coffin. More specifically the person who came out of it, and upon his appearance both the Sandaime along with the Toad Sage cursed their luck.

The newcomer, the final linchpin in Orochimaru's execution plan had stood still beside the first two reincarnated Hokage. He was a fair-skinned man with spiky, black hair that had a blue tint to it and was tied in a ponytail. His bangs parted down the centre of his face to frame both sides of it. He wore a high-collared, blue shirt with a crest on his upper back and blue pants which were wrapped up in bandages at the ends. On his waist, he had a bandage belt that held a sack which presumably held ninja tools.

In his eyes, were two black sclera like the other reanimations, however his irises were red. Red orbs that had black epicenter as three tomoe lazily spun around.

His face was blank, and for a moment confused. He looked around to see the Sandaime Hokage standing before him, much more aged than he remembered. Jiraiya was there as well, but he too seemed much older than he remembered. He looked to the sides and blinked only once. The Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage were beside him.

Cracks were visible on the face, skin, body and armor of the previous dead Kage. He looked down at his own hands and his frame to see those familiar cracks on him as well. His mind raced and found the answer, but he wasn't fond on what he had concluded. He turned his head a bit backwards to see the Snake Sannin and immediately realized that he was the caster.

But, no matter how much he wanted to maim the pale skinned man he couldn't. Something didn't allow him to do the deed.

"You should've left the dead alone." the Uchiha said with a heavy voice. The baritone of it was deep and commanding, and the Nidaime Hokage noted his general appearance. There were some similarities to some of the Uchiha he respected and had to ask.

"Were you related to Kagami Uchiha?" Tobirama asked noting the similarities between this man and the one Uchiha he trusted unconditionally. He received a small nod.

"Yes. He was my father, Nidaime-sama." said the man who turned towards the Sandaime and his student. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama. Jiraiya-sama. But I don't have control over myself, best to brace yourselves."

"How far will you fall Orochimaru?" asked Hiruzen Sarutobi as he looked at his former student for some answers. "Not only did you defile the graves of my teachers, but you couldn't leave Sakumo's student alone!" He said as killing intent flooded the area.

Had there been any other shinobi, they would've fell unconscious due to the sheer pressure of it and some would've even gone mad.

"You make it sound like I wouldn't take such a chance. After all, it's not every day one gets to witness Genjuro Uchiha, the Lord of Cinder fight." He finished as the man in question had a darkened look in his eyes.

"Now, attack them." Orochimaru said and the man he ordered already started to make his move.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama." Genjuro Uchiha said. The husband of Satsuki Uchiha then began to form hand seals at blinding rates even with his power toned down. Then the father of Obito, Shisui and Naruto Uchiha stopped his hand seals at the ever familiar tiger hand seal their clan was famous for.

" **Katon: Kaen Funka / Fire Release: Blazing Eruption"** he said as he blew out a very small ball of flames that sped towards the two Leaf nin. The ball of flames bright yellow in color and seemed to be vibrating, quite violently.

"That's relatively small." Hashirama said with keen eyes. He had never seen this jutsu before, and he had fought a lot of Uchiha before. Tobirama was in the same boat but both Senju brothers noted how their two reluctant opponents cleared the area as the ball was still rushing forward. They were getting away even further. The ball then met a large fuma shuriken that the Sandaime Hokage had launched. The result was instantaneous.

*BOOM*

An explosion, no a small firestorm erupted at the point of collision as everything around it in twenty yards was being reduced to ashes and embers danced in the sky. The Senju noted the destruction capability of it and if there was any doubt about him being the child of the Heir of Fire, it was gone now.

'I'm glad you and Minato are dead.' the Snake Sannin thought.

Had Genjuro and Minato were alive then he would've never thought about entering this place. Still, it took literal squads of Iwa jounin to put Genjuro Uchiha down in Nami no Kuni. Though the Leaf lost their ground later on, Nami no Kuni was free because of Genjuro Uchiha and with this one jutsu he shown why he was the Lord of Cinder, and one of the top contenders for the position of the Hokage.

The Shodaime Hokage also began to make hand seals as sadness clenched his nonexistent heart at the moment. To think he'd take part in something that would harm the village. He stopped at snake and said the name of his jutsu. A jutsu from a bloodline a majority of people had forgotten about.

" **Mokuton: Jukai Kotan / Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"** he said as trees forcibly began to form on the surface of the tiled roof the fight would take place. They thrashed around as soon the entire stand would become a miniature forest where a battle amongst monsters would take place.

* * *

Deepwood Forest, Northern Training Grounds of Konohagakure no Sato

Deepwood Forest was just another forest inside the Hidden Leaf. Planted and nurtured by the Shodaime himself, while it was an impressive and vast forest there was nothing too special about it. Nothing notable also ever happened in this place. Except now three shinobi could be seen leaping across from branch to branch. They needed to reach the Northern Exit. The Sand Siblings had escaped from the arena and were looking to make a mad dash for the exit.

They were leaving out of fear, the two of them. Temari and Kankuro did not want to see that _monster_ again. Gaara was injured and bleeding. His second skin, the **Suna no Yoroi / Armour of Sand** had been damaged heavily and was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. As much as they wanted to obey their father and follow through with the invasion, they had other concerns. They cared about each other and though it may not seem like it, they cared for Gaara.

He used to be a kind and timid child when he was young.

Temari was particularly fond of him and used to dote on him, Kankuro often used to joke around and the then shy Gaara would often hide behind his sister. However as time passed things began to change, their father's opinions began to change.

Why shouldn't the village weapon be treated as a weapon? He strictly _ordered_ his children to stay away from Gaara. He told them he was a monster. He kept Gaara in a different part of the house. Despite their effort, the older of the Sand Siblings could not reach their brother. Shinobi guards always held them back and months later when they finally met him once more…..he changed. He was bloodthirsty and cold.

His face was devoid of any warmth, and he often killed people.

Somewhere along the way, the boy became a monster.

They still cared about him, however fear outweighed affection in this case as both siblings kept a distance from him. Gaara on the other hand had believed that they truly feared him and loathed him.

Why shouldn't they? And now the Jinchuuriki of the Icihibi had one resounding thought in mind.

'Why?' he thought. A single word that echoed deep in the caverns of his mind as it resonated the inner walls of his mind.

"We've got to pick up the pace." Temari said as her teal colored eyes darted around to see any incoming enemies. Thankfully they had met a shinobi squad from their own village who had volunteered to stay back and they had some time before any Leaf shinobi could catch up to them.

"I know. You're not the carrying Gaara, so stop complaining." Kankuro said as he carried the nearly unconscious Jinchuuriki on his back.

'Why?' once more he asked himself. Why were they carrying him? Why were they taking him away from this place?

"I know but still. We have to make sure that Gaara is safe. I don't want anything to happen to him." Temari said and if both of the elder siblings could see it, they would've seen their youngest brother's eyes widen in surprise and shock.

'….They care?' he asked himself.

*THUD*

The Sand Siblings stopped. A kunai had been lodged on the next branch they had been planning to use. A single kunai, that came in from behind them and aimed at their path specifically with accurate precision. One needed to have a very good aim or a very good set of eyes. Turning around they saw two orbs looking at them. One had eye had one tomoe in it, the other had two tomoe. He was very close to having a total of four.

He could _taste_ it. Only battle experience would make his eyes evolve now, and right in front of him was a battle he could not afford to miss out on.

"I have something I need to finish with him." Sasuke Uchiha said as he stood and his blessed eyes looked at the company of three.

This wasn't about the sake of the Chunnin Exams anymore. This was war and right now, he needed to take some prisoners. Of course, fighting Gaara was something he needed to do otherwise the unstable shinobi would cause him problems later along the line.

"Temari take him and go." the Puppet User said as his sister came forward and picked up their brother. "Get him out of here."

"You get back to us. You hear me you idiot?" She said and her war paint wearing brother smirked. There was the sassy and quick talking kunoichi he had for a sister. She then sped off with the red head as Kankuro brought forth the bandaged puppet that was on his back.

"You honestly think you can beat me?" Sasuke said trying to gain a psychological edge over his opponent. Trash talking and manipulation were two very different things. Something that Sasuke was only beginning to understand.

Kasumi Uzumaki was a trash talker, as in saying things that will make anyone blow a fuse either due to absurd statements or some personality quirk. Naruto Uchiha on the other hand was a manipulator. He played people, he made them think what he wanted them to think. He would tell you that the moon was green you'd be inclined to believe him. Naruto did goad Sasuke into rushing him during their spar a month and few weeks back, he dictated and toyed with his emotional weaknesses.

Something that Kakashi reprimanded him on during the last month. The lazy jounin made it quite clear that Sasuke was unstable as a shinobi, his general need for revenge was hindering his growth. His mind was that of a _child_ as Kakashi has so aptly put it. He had burst out at that statement and proved his point. After that, Sasuke tried to control his emotions more. _Tried_.

"Please! Don't talk like you're that Naruto guy." The full body suit wearing Suna nin said with disdain. "If it was that guy I was facing, I'd be a bit worried. You're just another genin with a bloodline."

He finished as he unfurled the bandages that hid his puppet. Sasuke Uchiha did not know what to think, to be frank he wasn't sure what he was going to do. But he did know he couldn't waste his time. And as if by Kami's will herself, two figures landed beside him.

Kasumi Uzumaki and Shino Aburame.

"Where's the insomniac-baka?" Kasumi asked immediately and despite the severe nature of the standoff, everyone had to sweat drop. Sasuke looked at her with a twitching eyebrow. "Oi what crawled up your ass, teme?"

"Dobe…." he said. Why couldn't he kill her again? Oh right, Naruto would fucking bury him in a second. While Sasuke didn't outright fear Naruto, he was wary of him and knew that in a fight there was a large chance he would come out on top. Well for now anyway.

"I suggest you two move forward." Shino spoke up as both members of Team Seven looked at the Kikaichu wielding shinobi of the Aburame clan. "I was scheduled to face him either way. So I hope you understand my request to face him."

"Fine then. Kick make-up boy's ass Shino!" Kasumi said as Sasuke grunted at the Leaf genin. The shade wearing boy nodded at their words as they proceeded to go forward. Kankuro snorted and was half tempted to go after them, but he knew that the insect user would come after him.

Essentially speaking they were equals. Neither of the two actually had to make contact with their opponents. Kankuro could poison his enemies, and Shino could infect them with his 'friends'. Both prepared to battle as lunged forward.

* * *

Near the Forest, Outskirts of Training Grounds 56 and 57

Naruto Uchiha was going as fast as he could. He needed to get out of this place as he felt several chakra signatures closing in on him. Did he not cover his tracks properly? As if things couldn't get worse, he felt several more chakra signatures ahead. Instinctively he stopped and jumped back as a tiger had pranced on where he previously stood. It was black and white, but not only that it wasn't a white tiger. No he couldn't sense anything except chakra from this tiger. It seemed more like something you would see in paintings. Then he saw it.

Around thirty five ANBU landed in front of him. All of them had the symbol of 'Ne' on them. Naruto cursed his luck as he realized that Danzo had taken some countermeasures already.

They would take away some of his chakra, and considering how he needed to conserve a large portion of it this would be a problem. Unsheathing his tanto, he dodged a slash that came his way from a ROOT operative who decided to strike him first. He fought as his blue eyes noted the converging of the other shinobi around him.

Dodging more slashes coming at him, he jumped a fair distance back and made five quick hand seals, usually it would require seven but for him it was applicable. He unsealed a dozen shuriken from his left arm's Instant Weapons Brace as he threw the volley of shuriken forward with rapid speed and performed the jutsu in conjunction.

" **Katon: Housenka Tsumabeni / Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson"** he said as he breathed out fire of sun kissed yellow as they ignited the shuriken and increased the overall speed of the projectiles fired. The flaming shuriken rushed forward and managed to hit three ANBU operatives as they suffered from the singes of the shuriken. However, made the ram hand seal and spoke.

"Kai." He said as the small symbols on the shuriken began to glow and all twelve of them exploded at the same time.

He had killed about four of them and one of them was injured. Drawing seals on the shuriken was not an easy task. It required extreme precision and two more seals needed to be drawn on it before the letters that signified explosion could work. He then felt three chakra signatures rush in from behind. He had felt or rather met whomever these signatures belonged to. Probably more of Danzo's lackeys in the Leaf.

He would have to fight more seriously as he began to activate his Sharingan however, he was not allowed to as a giant zanbatou was hurled at one of the ANBU and had beautifully tore him half in a gore-y fashion.

Naruto looked at the giant hunk of a blade that was there and realized why it felt familiar.

" **Hyoton: Samui Hanabira / Ice Release: Cold Petals"** came the voice of a girl as leaves made of pure and cold ice were targeting the ANBU operatives as they scattered and broke their formation.

*SQUELCH*

"AHHH-mmph!"

*SNAP*

"Ah, haven't killed someone like that in a long time." said the voice of a man whose presence was only felt by the sensor types, including Naruto. The man who had been first stabbed as a kunai cut his nape and then had his neck twisted to the point it snapped was not that lucky. The man who brutally murdered the ANBU operative picked up his hunk of metal that he called a sword, rested it against his shoulders.

"Been some time, eh Uchiha gaki?" said the man. Wearing a sleeveless black shirt and camouflage pants, the man smiled underneath the bandages he used as a mask.

"Zabuza Momochi." Naruto said as he felt the **Hyoton** user land and she was wearing the hunter nin attire once more.

However the third person, who made his entrance was wearing a sleeveless, high collared violet shirt and grey pants was standing with an equally ridiculously sized sword that was covered in bandages. He was wearing a hanya mask of all things as his shoulder length whitish blue hair moved in the wind.

"What are you all doing here?" the blue eyed Uchiha asked as the last person to arrive spoke up.

"Well, I wanted to settle my score with you so I was thinking of ways to get in contact with you. Then, Zabuza-san was hired by the Hokage as he's a mercenary for hire. Haku-chan followed him, I followed her sweet ass and voila. Here we are!" the person said and if there was any doubt the person beneath the mast was Mangetsu Hozuki it was all washed away now.

"MANGETSU YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT HAKU LIKE THAT?!" Zabuza yelled with rage and the Uchiha was surprised at his fatherly defensive instincts.

Naruto wondered if all fathers were like this, if they were he was glad that….well a certain blonde haired man wasn't alive, or worse a certain red haired woman. They would've probably maimed him a few times for even sleeping in the same bed as their daughter.

"Tou-san! Mangetsu-kun! Not now!" Haku said with a loud voice. Clearly the girl was flustered with all the attention. She noted that one of the ANBU decided to take advantage of that but Zabuza's eye caught up and he swung his Executioner Blade like a bat cleaving his head off as blood spewed everywhere.

"Go on ahead kid. We'll take care of whatever the fuck is going on here. Though it looks like you've got an internal problem." The Demon of the Hidden Mist said and was preparing to make the hand seals as Mangetsu formed a small lake with his **Suiton** jutsu.

"Yeah, and later we'll take care of the other shinobi. From the looks of it that grey wolf was tearing through snakes and buildings like they were butter." The Hozuki Clan member said and Naruto internally groaned at that.

Sif had probably started going rampant. As long as Natsu and Yurei weren't here yet, he could deal with it. He nodded and left in a smokeless **Shunshin** to gain a fairer distance before the ANBU could rush after him all three former shinobi of Kiri made their respective hand seals.

" **Suition: Kirigakure no Jutsu / Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu"** the collected yells of three foreign shinobi came and a thick mist surrounded the covering area of the forest they stood in.

Like a miasma of death it spread as the three Silent Killing technique users prepared to take down the ANBU. Haku would probably make them unconscious and leave them with numb body parts, but two of the Seven Ninja Swordsman would kill all of their opponents.

* * *

Kage Stand

Genjuro Uchiha dodged the punch that the Toad Sage had aimed for him and let his open palm rush forward to strike the jaw. Jiraiya felt a bit bristled by the counteractive blow but recovered nonetheless as he grabbed the wrist and kicked the undead Uchiha in the ribs making him skid back. Then Tobirama rushed forward and grabbed Jiraiya to slam him on the ground of the rooftop.

Before Jiraiya could recover from the blow he received, he saw Tobirama's foot descending down aimed at his skull. Using a quick **Kawarimi** to replace his body with a Log, he tried to gain some distance but once more Genjuro Uchiha had sneaked up on him and kicked him in the back. The Toad Sage cursed under his breath as he felt his spine rattle from the kick, then he saw the Nidaime rushing at him once more. Making hand seals at a pace he hadn't done in such a long time, he unleashed his jutsu.

" **Doton: Doryuusou / Earth Release: Earthen Rising Spears"** he said and slammed one hand on the ground as spears made of earth erupted near him and impaled the Nidaime as he was displayed as a victim of the jutsu. His body was starting to crack and crumbling as fragments of his undead body floated like dust around him.

'That should hold him for some time.' Jiraiya thought and ducked a roundhouse kick aimed directly for his head.

He then jumped back and saw that Sarutobi was fighting against both Orochimaru and the Shodai. The father of Naruto Uchiha rushed forward and once more attacked Jiraiya who was keeping up with him, Genjuro himself was having a hard time trying to predict the Sannin's moves. They were unpolished and at times random. So predicting the moves was getting harder, inwardly he was glad that he was powered down but he was sure that even in this controlled state there was so much _more_ he could do even in this state.

Hashirama Senju punched Hiruzen Sarutobi's arms which were crossed to form a guard in front of his chest. Sarutobi was thrown back from the sheer force of it. Hashirama's hand was glowing, meaning that the punch was a chakra enhanced one.

Had it not been for the fact that Hiruzen had become accustomed to blows like that during his prime, he would've winced under the pressure of it. However with wisdom also comes age, and with age the body doesn't remain the same. Which was one of the reasons why he couldn't recover from the blow soon enough for Orochimaru to sneak up behind his former teacher. The Snake Sannin punched the aged Kage right across his face drawing some blood as he crashed into a wooden branch made by the founder of the village.

Orochimaru licked his lips in satisfaction. Everything was going smoothly, soon the Third Hokage would be killed and Jiraiya too. Then Danzo would take over the Hidden Leaf, and become an ally to the Hidden Sound. And by the end of it, the Snake Sannin would have a host worthy of all these efforts. He noted how the reanimated Uchiha was giving his former teammate a hard time. While Orochimaru was arrogant, he was not ignorant. He knew that despite Jiraiya's lecherous nature and unrivaled perverseness, he was a strong shinobi.

What ate away at the Snake Sannin was he did not know how _strong_ Jiraiya was. Ten years was a long, long time for any shinobi to learn new skills. The same could be said for his sensei, who at the moment was taking a long time to emerge from the rubble. Granted he hit his sensei with a considerable amount of force, but if this was all it took to take down the Professor then he was disappointed. But then he saw it, barely visible but he did see it.

Remnants of smoke emerged from the debris of where he crashed into. Orochimaru could feel the presence of another and before he knew it, the entire branch or rather the tree that had become the point of impact was slashed away into smithereens as the Sandaime Hokage stood proudly with a staff.

The Adamantine Staff which had one eye visibly on it.

'Oh, so he's brought Enma out already.' the pale one thought as he nodded at the Shodaime to attack. Going through hand seals at a fast rate, Hashirama Senju stopped at the hebi seal once more.

" **Mokuton: Jubaku Eiso / Wood Release: Binding Nest"** the First Hokage said as the already present trees began to extend their branches as they danced like snakes and were converging on the Third Hokage who waited for the branches to strike him. Then with the athletic ability of that that of young jounin, he began to spin his Adamantine Staff at large speeds to chip through the wooden bindings that came from him.

They became nothing but splinters as he seal-lessly created two **Shadow Clones** beside him. They already started going through the hand seals as both began to unleash their collaborative jutsu.

" **Katon: Karyuu Endan / Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet"** one of the clones said as he breathed out a large stream of fire that twisted around before taking the shape of the mythical draconic beast.

" **Fuuton: Kami Oroshi / Wind Release: Godly Winds From the Mountains"** the other clone said as he spit out a vortex of slashing winds as it headed for the fire based dragon and collided with it to make it larger and increase the overall damage it would inflict. Orochimaru could not react in time as both he and the Shodaime were hit by the jutsu and a small explosion occurred from the resulting jutsu. Hiruzen turned his attention towards Jiraiya and his two opponents.

Jiraiya was struggling a bit now as both Tobirama and Genjuro as each of them were speed based fighters, both were much faster than Jiraiya himself, as they parried one of his blows while the other struck. Jiraiya extended his foot and Genjuro held his leg, yanking it forward as Tobirama spin kicked the Toad Sage away. Tobirama Senju then began to make hand seals at an abnormal rate.

" **Suiton: Suihou no Jutsu / Water Release: Water Cannon Jutsu"** the Nidaime said as he spit out a large stream of boiling water at the Toad Sage. The water was scathingly hot and could cut through rocks, however due to the restrains placed on the user it lacked the necessary power as it normally does.

" **Ninpo: Hari Jizo / Ninja Art: Needle Jizo"** Jiraiya said as his spiky mane of white hair became further untamed and grew more. It then wrapped itself around the user and the needle like hair became a shield that was on par with hardened steel. Jiraiya could feel that his defensive technique was under some damage, then it was heating up even more.

'Must be Genjuro with a **Katon** jutsu.' the Toad Sage thought and made his own set of hand seals.

" **Ninpo: Hari Jigoku / Ninja Art: Needle Hell"** the needle like sharpened strands of hair surrounding the toad sage began to shoot outwards in nearly every direction and his opponents did not expect the move, not even Genjuro as he had never seen it before and was struck with the highly sharp needles that lunged into their bodies with great speeds.

Once more both became temporarily stopped and Jiraiya's hair returned to its normal length, albeit a bit smoky. He then saw that his sensei arrived and looked weary, the battle had been going on for some time now and his age was catching up to him. Jiraiya could feel the effects too, he had gotten rusty over the years. Sarutobi then hit the two reanimations in front of them with his extended Adamantine Staff to delay their reformation rate.

"Jiraiya, we need to seal them off." Sarutobi said as he watched the two undead figures slowly starting to reform. Hashirama was also reforming and from the looks of it, Orocihmaru had spit his real body out of his former as he looked to be covered with saliva all over his body.

"I know sensei. But we need to hit them hard. I have a plan but, I'll need time." Jiraiya said and his sensei looked at him with narrowed eyebrows. Time was the one thing they did not have at the moment, not with Orochimaru around and the reanimation forming.

"How much?" Sarutobi asked not really looking forward to what his student was going to say.

"A couple of minutes. Five to six at most, since I need to heal plus get some gear and then I'll be able to go out. Then I can fight them on better grounds and use the **Keikyaku Fuin / Contract Seal** to break the control over the reanimations, even if it is only one of them." the Toad Sage finished and the Sandaime nodded grimly at him. Jiraiya knew he was asking a lot.

One single person fighting against four Kage level shinobi for a couple of minutes as a distraction? Another form of suicide by logical conclusions.

That was a bet that even a certain blonde haired gambler wasn't willing to take.

"Very well, Jiraiya. But you need to hide." Sarutobi said as he gripped the Adamantine Staff tightly. The Monkey King Enma could feel the wariness of his wielder. He had fought alongside Hiruzen for years. Before he could move, Jiraiya caught sensei by his arm and handed him a tadpole.

Was he joking?

"Keep that tadpole safe. I can't summon _them_ here with four of them around, I'm pretty sure Genjuro or Nidaime-sama will attack them the moment they realize what is happening." Jiraiya said and the Sandaime nodded as the Toad Sage bit his hand to draw blood and made a few hand seals before he slammed his hand into the ground.

*POOF*

Jiraiya the Toad Sage disappeared and Hiruzen threw the toad, quite discreetly as it hopped away from everyone and stood alone watching four shinobi slowly walking towards the aged man who threw him. He blinked and sat still. Why was he summoned before when the fight had begun? He had no purpose here except for…

'So that's what he's planning.' Sarutobi thought as he restrained a smirk. He couldn't afford to lose his poker face now. Twirling his Adamantine Staff he held it with an aura he hadn't shown in years, no…he hadn't shown in decades he stood prouly as Enma also felt the sudden pulse of his wielder becoming more composed.

' **You're calm. The calmest you've been since you summoned me today**.' Enma thought as his eye opened once more to observe the four shinobi making his way.

"Kukukuku." Orochimaru giggled and started to laugh now. "I can't believe this. Hahahahaha! Jiraiya abandoned you as well!"

"Orochimaru, hold your tongue worthless brat!" Sarutobi said as he was trying to goad Orochimaru into an argument. The longer they talked the better. More time to be wasted. But sadly the Snake Sannin's eyes narrowed. 'I must've pushed a button.'

"Worthless…..Let me show how worthless I am." the rogue nin said and began make noises that made everyone feel like he was going to vomit. He was vomiting, but it wasn't any undigested form of bolus that exited his mouth. Rather a blade was coming out of his mouth as he coughed and the reanimations looked on.

"I've seen people get skinned alive." Tobirama said as he watched the process. "But this is more disgusting."

"Indeed." His older brother said as he looked on, internally his mind was yelling out to shove the sword back in.

"Sword swallower." Genjuro Uchiha said and both Hokage looked at him with an impassive stare, had they had more control of their bodies the facial reactions would be different.

"He seems to be a bit like you." the Nidaime said to his brother.

"A bit, but I am glad to see there were Uchiha who has a lighter mind." the Shodaime said and saw that Orochimaru had finally taken the blade out of his mouth. The First took a close look at the blade and eventually realized what it was. "That's the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. I wonder how he attained a blade like that."

" **Sarutobi."** Enma spoke loud enough so that his summoner could hear him clearly. " **I maybe indestructible, but even I would be harmed if I get hit by that.** "

"I wonder what you'll do now, Sarutobi-sensei. Jiraiya fled and now you're here alone. Then again, I'm not surprised. You really did outlive your natural life, well you and that Tsuchikage anyway." the Snake Sannin said as he took his stance with the sword. "Sadly that ends now, Genjuro…..use the technique which gave you your nickname, Lord of Cinder."

"Hokage-sama, make sure you increase your defense." the Uchiha said and the Sandaime seemed to realize what Orochimaru was exactly implying. The chakra around Genjuro began to increase as it started to become visible. He then made the ram hand seal as the temperature around them began to rise very quickly.

" **Katon: Moeshu no Yoroi / Fire Release: Armor of Cinder"** Genjuro said as orange flames engulfed his body and flickered around him. Cinders from his body flew off and danced in the wind as if it was trying burn the air particles itself. "I see, it's not as strong as I thought it would be."

"A full body armor made of fire and the flames that act as a defense and increase the offensive taijutsu output. Similar to what the Raikage use." Tobirama said with a calculative eye, already breaking the jutsu down as Genjuro stared at him for a moment.

"Otou-san wasn't joking when he said your mind was your most dangerous attribute." the Uchiha said and felt a massive amount of respect building for him, it was a shame that he couldn't show the _full power_ of his jutsu.

"I find it hard to believe how someone like you died. A technique like that surely assures invincibility on some scale." the Shodaime added his two cents and was equally curious about his technique. He remembered his father Kagami when he was a, well he was a brat but he knew even then the child would go far. His own child however exceeded his expectations.

"Poor Genjuro Uchiha was left to die." Orochimaru said as Genjuro despite his lack of emotions had his eyes shadowed.

"A mission during the Third Great Ninja War in which Konoha was supposed to merely observe Iwa's complete takeover made in Nami no Kuni resulted in squads of Konoha to be caught as prisoners of war. Genjuro Uchiha here abandoned the protocols like his sensei and instead took on the entire battalion of shinobi that had invaded the country. All seven hundred and fifty Iwagakure shinobi killed by the hands of one man. Genjuro Uchiha didn't let a single one of his comrades die that day and freed a country. All Konoha gave him was a name on the Memorial Stone and burned his body in Wave so that the secrets to his body don't get revealed. The name 'Genjuro Uchiha' became frowned up and his family were seen as outcasts in the Uchiha Clan itself. How the Will of Fire fades." the Snake Sannin said taking pleasure in how Sarutobi's face showed shame and sadness.

He was doing this specifically so that Sarutobi's emotions show up and take advantage of him. Both the Shodaime and Nidaime took in the words and knew that the man deserved better. Tobirama himself had died in a similar fashion, fending off enemy shinobi wards by himself so his team could escape. He had no regrets about that.

 _Shinobi Rule #25: Shinobi must never show their feelings under any and all circumstances. Feelings are emotions that will compromise the mission, cloud meticulous judgment and weaken the sense of duty._

"You're wrong." said a calm and collected voice. The voice belonged to the man how was body was on flames. "The Will of Fire will never fade. I died three times that day, and I had no qualms. Despite having no teammates as I was the White Fang's apprentice, he taught me the value of comrades and what the Will of Fire truly is. It's not the village, nor the Hokage. It's the next generation. I died so that the young ones from the captured squad could live. It was selfish, but I made my peace." He then looked at Orochimaru and spoke as he felt annoyance displaying on the man's face.

"There will always be someone to fan the flames and make Konoha flourish. Shodaime-sama's ideas came to be known as the Will of Fire, and us Uchiha are the _fire_. As long as these ideals exist, the fire will never fade." Genjuro said and all Hokage present there felt a surge of pride in themselves. This man, Genjuro Uchiha was an undying representation of the Will of Fire and shows how a village truly wasn't bound by the clan.

"Kill him." Orochimaru said with a hushed tone of malice. "KILL SARUTOBI!"

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama." Genjuro said as he made seven precise hand seals that ended at tiger and started to breathe in.

'That jutsu…is that-' Both the Nidaime and the Shodaime were following the hand seals and knew exactly what he was planning to do. Sarutobi remembered his old friend doing the same hand seals and immediately what it was he brought his Adamantine Staff forward and it was beginning to take a different shape.

" **Katon: Gouka Messhitsu / Fire Release: Majestic Demolisher Flame** " the former branch member said as he exhaled out a large stream of concentrated flames as it burst forward destroying the very ground underneath it with the heat generated from it. The jutsu increased in speed as it met its target but was hitting a solid wall instead of the Sandaime.

Enma or rather the Adamantine Staff had expanded itself to become a solid black box that surrounded the Sandaime as the heat inside the protective defense was getting larger.

" **Sarutobi, there's someone else rushing in. It's the snake!"** He yelled as the heat died out and a sharp slashing noise came and the Adamantine black steel bled. Quickly turning it back into a staff again, Orochimaru stumbled back a bit due to the recoil at which the weapon had changed shapes. The Snake Sannin did not stop there as he brought the sword down to strike the Sandaime's head or at the very least a large gash that would slow him down.

*CLANG*

The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi instead collided with the Staff and there was a crack on it. As Sarutobi prepared to summon more clones, he felt something scathingly hot connect with his cheek. Embers is what he saw before flying back and crashing into the wall as part of his face sported burn marks.

Genjuro Uchiha was standing near the rogue nin as the flames flickered off his body with his fist extended. He had punched the Sandaime away as he rushed him once more. This time the Shodaime and the Nidaime were rushing in at him as well. Tobirama was already making hand seals as he stopped for a moment.

" **Ninpo:** **Kokuangyo no Jutsu / Ninja Art: Bringer of Darkness Jutsu"** the Nidaime said before darkness engulfed the area, a genjutsu made specifically to affect the eyesight of his enemies. While it could not be dispelled easily, the biggest weakness of this jutsu was that only sensor types could tell what was happening around them.

Sarutobi knowing and seeing how this jutsu had been played before jumped away from the spot as he heard a large cracking noise coming from where he stood. He guessed it must've been the Shodaime who punched the ground with his chakra enhanced strength. As if by instinct he brought his Staff to his right side as a longsword made of flames struck it and because of close proximity he was able to see the blade of flames before it disappeared. However Genjuro then proceeded to grab the Staff with all his strength before he spoke.

"Jump away." the undead Uchiha said and the Sandaime did exactly that as he kicked Genjuro and maneuvered his body away from the Uchiha who exploded into flames.

'A **Hi Bunshin** in the middle of the fight! Then where's the real one?' he thought as he didn't realize that the real Genjuro was already behind him and had his fist cocked with flames ready to burst from his hand.

"Behind you!" Genjuro shouted and the sentient Staff came to protect its wielder as it took the full force of the flaming fist and Sarutobi was falling as Tobirama stood below watching his favorite student coming down near him as he prepared to finish him off as he finished making his hand seals. His body would not listen as he prepared to gather the water particles from the very atmosphere.

" **Suiton: Doiru Suiyari no Jutsu / Water Release: Drilling Water Spears"** he said as his nonexistent heart flinched as the sharp water spears formed around him and rushed to kill and maim his successor.

*SQUELCH*

The water tendrils had successfully pierced the frame of the Sandaime and Tobirama looked up at the body as he could see it because he was the caster. The genjutsu faded as the Sandaime's body was visible to all, Orochimaru was going to laugh but something prevented him from doing so.

*BOOM*

The Sandaime's body exploded and caused quite a large shockwave, such that the frog sitting safely away from it on the roof fell of balance and was rolling down the slanted roof, struggling not to fall down. Orochimaru escaped the range of the jutsu, the Reanimations however could not as particles of their Edo Tensei bodies were moving around like specks of dust in the air slowly coming back to their bodies.

The Sandaime emerged from ground, sometimes the basics did do a lot of good. Orochimaru smirked a bit at his former sensei's evasiveness, he didn't even notice how quickly the Sandaime had switched himself out with a **Shadow Clone** so quickly and then emerged, but he could _feel_ the Sandaime slowly draining out.

'Jiraiya if you don't get your perverted ass here…..I'm going to fucking kill you.' the aged Hokage thought as he was contemplating on what to do next. Then before Orochimaru could rush in with his sword to strike the Hokage, a large resounding thud was heard as Hashirama's body was found in a recently made crater. On his back a spinning orb of blue rotating chakra as his body became particles once more. The person who did this, then jumped near Sarutobi and stood in front of everyone as the smoke from his sudden jump began to fade away.

"Jiraiya-boy, never do something stupid like that again." the voice of an old man said as he said to the Toad Sage.

*WHACK*

"OW!" came a voice of annoyance.

"And that is for not calling us earlier!" said a woman who was also residing in the smoke which cleared to give the full view.

Jiraiya stood there with his sensei but his appearance changed. His nose had become swollen and had warts on it. There were red markings around his eyes and extended down his cheeks. His teeth seemed sharper as he new also sported a goatee of sorts. The shape of his eyes also changed. On each of his shoulders was a toad.

The toad on his left shoulder was a green toad with white hair styled in somewhat of a mohawk, very thick eyebrows and a small goatee. It was also wearing a high collared cape as its arms were crossed and his eyes seemed to be observing all the opponents around him.

The other toad which was purple had a green underside with purple marking around its mouth and the back of its body. The top of the toad's head looked as though it was wearing a hair net with hair-rollers underneath, giving the toad an 'old woman' look. She was wearing a high collared cape.

On Jiraiya's shoulders sat Fukasaku and Shima, the Two Great Sage Toads of Mt. Myoboku.

"You weren't joking, Jiraiya-boy." Fukasaku the green one said with a grave tone.

"Here." Shima said as she threw Sarutobi a pill and the Sandaime immediately consumed it. She then looked at the Staff and spoke. "To think that someone as thick-headed as Enma could be cut."

" **I'm right here you filthy toads."** Came the annoyed voice of Enma and Shima was silently giggling at his fuming anger.

"Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama thank you for arriving with Jiraiya." Sarutobi said as he felt the Soldier Pill starting to take effect. The ones that the Toads made were different and efficient, but at the same time it was probably ten times more disgusting than he could imagine. He was sure he bit something _slimy_ when he chewed it, but it worked and his chakra was feeling revitalized as well.

"Sorry for arriving so late sensei, but the tadpole actually fell off the building and I had to climb up. At least we got the Shodaime for now." Jiraiya said as he looked at Orochimaru was keenly observing him and spoke with a merciless voice.

"Orochimaru, let me show exactly what would have happened if I fought you seriously that day." as his eyes saw all three reanimations along with Orochimaru rushing at him and Sarutobi.

* * *

Stadium

"Well, that takes care of the last of them." Kakashi said as he brought down his hitai-ate and closed his left eye.

He looked around at all the bodies of the enemy shinobi lying around. Konoha shinobi had outdone themselves even the genin, sadly most of them had gotten their first kills today and seemed to be reeling from the effects of it. Thankfully a squad of ANBU had come here as some jounin also accompanied them along with the civilians to safer shelters, the new generation had done their part. While Kakashi and his other three classmates weren't exhausted they did feel a certain amount of stress over their bodies.

"We should head over there." Kurenai said as she looked at the purple flames around the Hokage stand.

"Yeah, Jiraiya-sama might be her but extra help is never bad." Asuma said and he tried to hide the anxiousness and slight fear in his voice regarding the safety of his father but it was visible. However, before they could take another step spikes of earth rose and jarred their path as all four jounin jumped back to see four figures land in front of them.

"Oh this just great." Kakashi muttered as he looked at the four.

A man with white shaggy hair and tanned skin was most probably the leader. He was wearing a red vest that was open and his muscular torso could be seen. He had black armguards as well along with white pants. Yashiro Nanjo the Earth Warrior.

The second of the group was a man with blonde hair and was wearing a short sleeved black shirt and black pants along with gloves. He had a bloodthirsty smirk on his face as his hand was twitching with a knife. Yamazaki Dan, the Psychotic.

The third was a woman with dark purple hair as her bangs covered her face. She was wearing a scantly looking outfit as she wore a fishnet shirt with a tightly fitting long sleeved shirt over it. She was also wearing a skirt that barely covered half her thighs. Sherumi Okizu the Seductress.

And finally a boy of around fourteen years old who had shaggy brown hair and was wearing a short sleeved cloth that came down to his midriff and a black undershirt beneath. He was wearing dark red pants. He had a cold and menacing smile on his face. Kuroudo, the Young Hunter.

"Kakashi Hatake, it's an honor meeting you here." Kurodo said before he breathed in and started making hand seals. He then breathed out a large ball of flames that had purple colored smoke coming out of it. Every Konoha jounin jumped away from the flames as everything that seemed to come into contact with was melting slowly.

"The Five Kings." Might Gai said as he stood his ground. All of them had separated from each other and each were facing their opponents. The Five Kings were mercenaries and each of them were rogue shinobi from the five major villages. Each of them were also classified as A Rank threats.

Before Gai stood Yashiro, Asuma had Yamazaki and Kurenai would be facing Sherumi. Kurodo however was already on Kakashi and soon enough the Konoha jounin were already fighting the other members of the group. However, they all had another question in mind.

'Where's the Fifth King?' they all thought.

* * *

Deepwood Forest

'Do…..do they care?' the redhead insomniac asked himself in his mind as he was being carried away. His wound had began to heal, albeit slowly. He had been asking this to himself. Due to the overall lack of sleep he had, Gaara always looked to prove his existence. Often times he would ask himself why his family did not care?

Why did they avoid him like the plague? He knew he was a monster, but he still had memories….happy memories and that foolish side of his clung to those memories. Overtime he would dismiss these as foolish notions. However today's acts by….his siblings had made him ask the same question again.

'Tell me…..do they care?'

' **No…..** ' came a hollow reply followed by a mad cackle of laughter. Gaara shuffled a bit under the influence of the voice. The voice of his 'mother' as he called it. The one person who was always there despite whatever happened. It guided, molded his skills and made him become strong.

Strong so that no one can ever betray him again.

' **They'll betray you….just like him.'** said the voice and unknowingly he was accepting the answer.

'….You're right, mother.' He said as he freed himself from Temari's grip and twisted his body to land on a branch. He grunted in pain a bit as he was still healing from the wound the Uchiha had given him.

' **You will kill him for harming. Nobody harms you.'** said the voice as it tugged on the edges of the control he had.

'Yes…..' he thought as sand began to form around him and covered the wound. His eyes were changing. Gone were the cold and uncaring teal colored eyes, they were now yellow as his eyes had a black tilted cross in it.

"Gaara." said the Suna kunoichi as she noted his sudden drop and his eyes changing color. He had that look on his face again, she was feeling afraid again. Her brother was becoming that monster again. Wordlessly the redhead moved from that spot as he went further away from her view.

There was no need for him to rush in anything. His prey would come to him.

"Oi, four tails." came the yell of one familiar hyperactive blonde girl as she landed in front of her along with Sasuke Uchiha. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Listen here, Uzumaki." She said with barely restrained worry and anger. "I need to leave and help Gaara. He's needs my help." Then she noticed that Sasuke Uchiha had already rushed in the direction where Gaara had gone previously. Temari gripped her battle fan and was preparing to go after him but a chain had wrapped around her arm and yanked her back.

"What the heck?!" Temari said in surprise as more chains began to rise up and tied themselves around her limbs. Needless, to say her positioning seemed rather _awkward_ and she realized it. She saw Kasumi Uzumaki coming forward, the chains sticking out of her body. Her chakra was being drained or was it being suppressed, she did not know.

"Alright, now you and I are going to talk." the orange clad kunoichi said and the blonde from Suna knew she had no other choice. "What do you mean he needs your help?"

* * *

"SASUKE UCHIHA!" Gaara yelled with a mad grin on his voice as his arm became more monstrous and seemed to be composed of sand and black lines. He saw the Uchiha appear and immediately swiped his hand.

" **Suna Shuriken!"** he yelled as shuriken made from the sand of his slowly mutating arm were launched towards the incoming Uchiha whose Sharingan warned him of the danger ahead. Making the appropriate hand seals he kneaded chakra in his lungs.

" **Katon: Housenka no Jutsu / Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu** " said the Uchiha as he exhaled multiple fireballs that collided with the sand shuriken. Normally Sasuke Uchiha was composed when it came to battles, however upon seeing the sand on Gaara's body starting to spread he could only say one thing.

"Fuck."

* * *

ROOT Base Entrance

Naruto Uchiha finally arrived. Danzo Shimura had not made it easy for him. After getting past the ANBU that the Kiri rogue shinobi had held back, Naruto Uchiha had to activate his Sharingan. The bastard leader of the Foundation had set up traps, traps as in every elaborately planned death traps that would activate one after the other and probably kill people.

He was never one to boast, but for the first time he felt pride booming in him because of his eyes. However, as soon as he entered through the doors of the ROOT Base, which was more like an underground tunnel he felt the chakra of another. Elite jounin level chakra, and judging by the sudden change in the winds around him probably a **Fuuton** user. Hearing the sharp noise, he ducked as a small slash appeared on the wall he was leaning against to stay hidden.

In the clearing stood a man with short blonde hair with black highlights. He had a small black goatee and dark blue eyes. He was wearing a blue cloak and blue pants. There was a cape over his body and fingerless gloves on his hand and knee length combat boots. He looked at the emerging Naruto Uchiha and smirked.

"Orochimaru-san was right in a way." The man said with a kind and gentle voice. He then put his hand on his chest and bowed down dramatically. "Genjo Tatsu, based your looks you must be Naruto Uchiha."

"Sorry, but I've never heard about you." Said the teen Uchiha as his red eyes began to gleam and the tomoe spun.

"I'm not surprised. You are still a child, a strong one but a child nonetheless. Orochimaru-san had given me instructions to collect you from the stadium or anywhere else from the village. I am ashamed to admit that I was rather lost reading a book." He said holding it up for the Uchiha to see.

Then the book was erased from existence as it shredded into minute pieces as the man's eyes looked at him, hungrily for battle.

"I suppose I have no choice but to-"

"WOOOHOOOO!" came a yell that echoed and Naruto could not stop himself from face palming.

His sentence was cut off as he felt two more life forces coming in behind him. Two wolves stood behind Naruto. One's fur was pure white respectively as his blue eyes looked around and the other was pink of all colors.

"Geez, Natsu. Could you keep it down?" said the white wolf and the pink one looked a bit blanched at him.

"I'm not that loud, Yurei" said the pink direwolf. Yes, the pink direwolf.

"Natsu, Yurei. What are you two doing here?" Naruto asked as his eyes were fixed on Genjo who was clearly amused by what was happening here.

"Sif was done tearing through his opponents. Seriously it's a snake corpse fest out there." said Natsu with stars in his eyes.

"After that, he got bored and tagged the game with us. We killed around, a lot of Oto and Suna nin. We even became friends with this one dude named Kuromaru. He's cool as fuck." said Yurei as he had a grin on his face. "That woman who was with him though, AWOOOOO!"

"Enough!" Naruto said, a bit cringed at how he knew that Yurei was a severe pervert and even asked him if he had the latest editions of "Kenso Paradise" and the fact that Yurei was talking about Kiba's mother. He looked at Genjo and realized he could use their help now.

"Natsu, Yurei. How did you two get here?" he asked.

"Oh we met a clone of yours who said to follow you here. Didn't know you were into death traps that much." Natsu said the more cheerful, and dense of the two. Naruto noted that it was a smart decision on his clone's behalf.

"I need you two take care of him. He's strong and uses **Fuuton** chakra." Naruto said before Natsu already stood in front of him. The pink furred direwolf always did have a natural tendency towards fighting and Naruto had to beat him down during his training trap at Kabe no Kita a few times.

"Alright, then." Natsu said and growled as fire escaped from the small spaces between his sharp fangs. "See, I told you we'd get a good fight Yurei."

"Sure, go ahead Naruto. We'll take care of the Blondie here." Yurei said before Naruto disappeared or rather teleported using his brother's famous jutsu.

"So, I have to fight dogs now and a pink one along with a lecherous one at that." Genjo said with one closed eye and a proud smirk. "How cheap."

"That's what I said when I met your mother last night!" Yurei said with a twitching brow. Him? Lecherous? Please, he was a player!

"Pink, huh?!" Natsu said as the slits in his eyes sharpened. "I'm going to eat you for dinner."

* * *

Itachi Uchiha walked forward to the room. Behind him were 5 dead ROOT shinobi. His feet were wet from the large jutsu that Kisame had used to _flood_ an entire base. He was standing on the ceiling and he still got wet. Thankfully the tactic worked as Fuu and Torune of the Yamanaka and Aburame clans came to fight the Monster of the Hidden Mist along with the rest of the ROOT agents.

To be honest, Itachi had it relatively easy and had chakra to spare. He finally entered the final room as he had called it.

Opposite to him, stood Danzo Shimura as he was undoing the bandages from his arm very slowly and as calmly as he could.

Rarely did Itachi ever show his emotions. His complete lack of showing any feelings is what made him perfect for ANBU. However, today his eyes narrowed. They narrowed in anger and hatred. Danzo's right arm was wrinkle and palely white compared to the rest of his body. However, that was not what annoyed him. The endless amount of red orbs in them.

Sharingan after Sharingan embedded into his arm as the tomoe spun and then Danzo took off the bandages off his face as his right eye revealed another Sharingan.

Shisui's Sharingan.

Itachi stood still as he looked at Danzo.

"To think that you'd come back. On this day of all days." The Shinobi of Darkness said and Itachi looked at him now with a face devoid of emotions. His red eyes cold and lifeless. How long had it been since Danzo felt the aura of death like that?

Dense and merciless killing intent was around the around the area as he felt like it was constricting his neck. He stood still for a moment as Itachi spoke.

"It ends today. The Uchiha Clan…will be avenged today." the former ANBU said to the Shinobi of Darkness.

"Was it not you who chose to end your own Clan for the sake of the village? And now you would forsake the same village for something like revenge." Danzo said trying to delay him further.

"You broke the condition I set. I told you to leave those two alone." Itachi said as his eyes didn't blink for a second. "I was a fool to listen to you. All I've lost….is because of you. If Shisui had been allowed to go that to use the **Kotoamatsukami / Distinguished Heavenly Gods** that day on my father, Konoha would've remained stronger. You never gave the village that chance, so….." he took a pause before he spoke once more.

"…think before you speak, little shit." Itachi said and the older shinobi frowned and was going to make a move but he jumped from his spot to land on the statue. A very well placed slash of **Fuuton** chakra was sent his way to possibly harm him.

There stood a ghost. A ghost wearing the same attire Shisui Uchiha wore when Danzo ripped his eye out and the countdown for the Uchiha Clan's extinction began. Naruto Uchiha was here and his eyes were darker than Itachi's.

"Sorry I'm late." said the teen Uchiha as he stood with Itachi now. "He set up traps and had ANBU waiting outside along with a jounin near the base entrance, though that was probably Orochimaru's play."

"It's alright." Itachi said as his eyes began to change shape as a black tri-edge fuma-shuriken of black color formed in the red iris of his eye. "Now, it begins."

"No," Naruto said as his eyes also began to change and take the form of a four blade pinwheel "now it ends."

Both their eyes locked at Danzo and both said the same thing simultaneously.

" **Amaterasu!"**

* * *

 **Author's Notes II:** I am sorry you guys, but this is it for this chapter. Originally it was suppose to be over by this chapter but I have some other impending duties to do and they kind of need to be done. What you saw essentially here was the first phase of the fights. In the next chapter, you will see the part II of the invasion finale. The next chapter will cover the fights of the Hokage Stand, Deepwood Forest, ROOT vs Kisame (a fucking massacre), some scenes from Konoha invasion and finally the two Uchiha going against Danzo.

Overall, I hope you guys liked the chapter and the next one will be published next month. Also, there is going to be a change in my usual routine. It hasn't been finalized yet, but I will inform you about it at the end of the month so don't ask too many questions about it. Now as for the Moeshu no Yoroi, yes is influenced by how 'flamy' the Lords of Cinder from Dark Souls are and yes I did make a lot of Dark Souls references but they seemed to work. The Hokage fight was okay I guess, well in my opinion, as let's be honest controlling three Kage level Edo Tensei is much harder as they need to be powered down even more as Orochimaru hasn't found an advanced to control them like Kabuto did during the Fourth War. Sage Mode Jiraiya should be strong enough to hold them back and do that thing I planned.

Now, about Genjuro Uchiha dying three times. I'm pretty sure you guys have figured out what he meant. Genjuro Uchiha was strong, he was very strong. How strong he was, I will explain in the next chapter. Also, the Five Kings are not exactly OC's as they were heavily influenced by the Hakkesshu from the King of Fighters series who serve Orochi, namely: Yashiro Nanakase is Yashiro, Shermie became Sherumi Okizu, Ryuji Yamazaki became Yamazaki Dan, Chris became Kurodo and Goenitz Leopold became Genjo.

And that is it for today, as I am very sleepy and if there are mistakes rest assured I will fix them tomorrow. Make sure you review guys. Until next time, take care and stay safe. :D


	22. Chapter 22: Sad Notice People :(

Yeah, you're right to be horrified of such a notification. I know some of you will be sad – some outright angry, deservedly so – to hear this, but this story is being discontinued. Now just hear me out. The truth is, I messed up with the story. Granted this story was incepted when I joined FF for the first time, however the story is a bit weaker and wasn't going the way I intended for it to go. Then we have the problems with the story itself; forget about the grammar which nearly butchered any hopes for the story in the first 10 chapter, the development and flawed characterization almost ruined it. The reason why I'm cancelling this story is because I am taking a shift in my writing style and storytelling methods.

If you guys read the new chapters for my other story "A Swift Knucklehead of an Uzumaki" you'll see just how much my style has changed. But this isn't all bad news. The good news is, now three of my stories are currently active. "How Naruto Screwed with History", whose six existing chapters will be broken into 12 and the official new chapter starts from Chapter 13; "Naruto the Weird, OP Shinobi" which is a jab at the neglect genre, and finally "Swift Knucklehead" which I recommend for you guys to read.

Finally, "The Uchiha Prodigy" will have a rewrite along with "Naruto Uzumaki: The Shinobi Mage", but it will take some – by which I mean a LOT – time. I need to plan the story out properly, develop how the characters are going to mature, and of course, proper writing style. I'm really sorry about this guys. Trust me, I have a deep emotional connection with this story as it more or less put me on the fanfiction map so it hurts me more than it does you. Let's just hope that I can start working on the rewrite soon. If and when I do start publishing the rewriting, I'll post a notice here. But I can assure you this, the rewrite version is going to be loads, LOADS, better than this story. ;)

Thank you for understanding and those of you who've stuck to the story from the beginning, I love you all. You're confidence boosts are the reason why I was able to take the story so far. Take care.


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